Explaining the team based approach that collaborative law provides to help divorcing families.

1. Collaborative Law:
An introduction to the collaborative law approach and its use of
the interdisciplinary model to successful resolve family law
disputes
Presented by
Julian N. Schwartz
Bashara and Schwartz, P.C.

2. The Courthouse is often not Family Friendly
• Be financially damaging or destructive
• Destroy or damage parent-to-parent
relationships
• Destroy or damage parent-child relationships
• Destroy or damage extended family and
social relationships
The traditional litigation process can:

3. In many cases there may be a
better way ...
• to restructure relationships
• to reduce the pain of divorce for
children
• to preserve rather than waste assets
• to solve family disputes without making
them worse

4. Collaborative Family Law Defined
Collaborative Family Law is
a non-adversarial process
focused on getting families
from dispute to resolution
efficiently, and with as little
financial and emotional
damage as possible, while
securing an agreement
which addresses the parties
common and individual
interests.

5. Texas’ Collaborative Law Statute
• Parties must sign a Participation Agreement committing to
attempt settlement without going to court
• Parties commit to full and candid disclosure of information
• Attorneys must withdraw if parties reach an impasse or
opt out of the Collaborative process
• All experts must be neutral
In 2001, Texas made history by passing the first
Collaborative Law statute in the country. In 2011, Texas
amended its Collaborative Law statute with the adoption of
the Uniform Collaborative Law Act. The basic provisions of
this statute include:

6. Collaborative Family Law provides a:
• Structured settlement process
• For resolving conflict
• Focusing on parties’ interests
• With customized solutions
• Without going to court
• Encourages use of the interdisciplinary
approach in the dispute resolution process

7. How Does
the Collaborative Process Work?
• Well-defined ground rules
• The Collaborative road map: a step-by-step
conflict resolution process
• The interdisciplinary approach makes use of
neutral professionals to educate, advise and
guide the parties

8. Three Defining Principles of Collaborative Law
Clients agree in
advance that
they will not
take any
contested issue
to court.
Number One

9. Why is this Important?
• Everyone can focus on
settlement without
distractions.
• The team creates a
“safe container” in
which parties can
negotiate.
• Formal commitment to
negotiate in good faith
means more than
informal agreement.
In the Collaborative Process …
going to court is used as a hammer to
force parties to agree.
In traditional litigation …

10. Three Defining Principles of Collaborative Law
Number Two
The process is
“transparent.” Everyone
agrees to an informal
exchange of all relevant
information. All experts
are neutral and exempt
from the court process.

11. All collaborative law clients commit to respond truthfully
to inquiries, to provide relevant information to the other
side, and to correct mistakes made by either side.

12. Three Defining Principles of Collaborative Law
Number Three
Agreements are
made through a
process of “interest-
based” negotiation,
where everyone
involved is asked to
find creative
solutions that work
for the family.
Husband’s
priorities
Wife’s
priorities
Children’s
needs
Family’s future

13. Interest-Based Negotiation …
• Recognizes the parties’ common goals for their family
• Encourages empathy
• Acknowledges the fact that the parties will be connected
well into the future, even though they are no longer
married

14. • Clients often find that
they share more
interests than they had
realized.
• Interest-based
negotiation frees clients
to work toward resolution
that addresses
everyone’s needs and
often results in acts of
generosity.

15. Litigation
Husband’s Attorney Husband
Wife’s Attorney Wife

16. Mediation
Husband’s Attorney Husband
Mediator
Wife’s Attorney Wife

17. The Collaborative Team
(Texas Model)
Husband Wife
Husband’s
Lawyer
Wife’s
Lawyer
Neutral Process
Facilitator/Child
Specialist
Financial
Neutral

18. Much of the work done in Collaborative cases
occurs in joint meetings with both parties, both
lawyers, and relevant neutral professionals
present.

19. The Collaborative Team is structured so that
the most qualified, least expensive
professional is doing what he or she does best
when the services are needed.

20. More Than Just Lawyers:
An Interdisciplinary Team Approach To
Resolving Disputes
• Attorneys function as problem solvers, educators and
facilitators rather than gladiators or hired guns
• Neutral Mental Health Professionals manage emotions
and communication, keeping the process on track. In
cases with children, they help parents make the best
decisions for their children
• Financial Professionals provide neutral financial
guidance, gather information and help create and evaluate
financial options

21. Process Facilitators
Collaborative Law Process Facilitators are mental health
professionals who take the role of the “referee” of the team and
the process. He or she will ...
 Help clients move past their
positions and to their interests.
 Keep the meetings on track and
productive.
 Meet with clients outside of joint
meetings to help them resolve
specific issues.
 Manage the emotional content of
the meetings.
 When children are involved, help
the clients with developing a
parenting plan

22. Financial Neutrals
Financial neutrals help gather information and educate clients
about their financial estate. He or she will ...
• Help “wrangle” the parties’
financial information into a
usable form.
• Create spreadsheets and
cash-flow analyses.
• Help educate clients who need
help understanding their
finances.

23. Structure:
The Collaborative Law Participation Agreement
• Commitment to agree and not go to court
• Commitment to communicate civilly and respectfully
• Commitment to focus on interest-based negotiations
• Commitment to full disclosure
• Lawyers are prohibited from litigating
• All experts are neutral

24. The Process:
A Problem-Solving Road Map
• Step 1: Establish ground rules
• Step 2: Identify interests and concerns
• Step 3: Address temporary issues
• Step 4: Gather information
• Step 5: Brainstorm options
• Step 6: Evaluate options
• Step 7: Select best agreeable option

25. Compare Collaborative Family Law
and Litigation
• Litigation can be
demoralizing,
dehumanizing,
and destructive to
families.
• Litigation is a
“Blame Game.”
• Collaborative Law
changes the
focus from WHO
is at fault, to HOW
to SOLVE the
problem.

26. Compare Collaborative Law and Mediation
• During caucus-style mediation, clients feel
isolated and left out of the process.
• Mediation often makes clients feel under
pressure to settle in someone else’s time frame.
• Collaborative Law is an ongoing negotiation. It
allows clients to vent if they need to in a safe
environment, and to participate fully in the
process.

27. Some things to like about Collaborative Law
• Sensitive family issues
remain confidential.
• No public court
appearances are
required.
• No personal
psychological or
financial records go into
your court file.
Privacy

28. Most divorcing couples are kind, decent
and intelligent people who want to
maintain their self-respect and dignity.
These are good people at the
worst time in their lives. Often, they
are not proud of their behavior.
They would like to feel that they
have treated their spouse fairly,
done what was best for their
children, and amicably resolved
their differences.

29. Some things to like about Collaborative Law
Efficiency and Self-Determination
Most clients are
used to controlling
their lives and don’t
like having to follow
others’ rules,
especially if the
rules don’t make
sense to them.

30. Clients say…
They want to get
through the
divorce process as
quickly and
painlessly as
possible.

31. Some things to like about Collaborative Law
Economy
• Paying two “hired gun”
experts to come up with
diametrically opposed
opinions so the judge can
split the difference is
wasteful for the clients.
• Hiring neutral experts helps
the parties arrive at an
agreement using objective
standards.

32. • Corporate, tax, and
estate-planning attorneys
• Business and real estate
appraisers
• Insurance consultants
In addition to the Financial Neutral and the Process
Facilitator/Child Specialist, the following neutral experts can
be helpful:

33. Some things to like about Collaborative Law
Future Relationships are Preserved
Having to testify in
court almost
always assures
that the spouses
will be enemies.

34. And asking
friends,
business
associates
and family
to choose
sides
often leads to
relationship
damage that
can’t be
repaired.

35. Clients prefer…
• Dealing with their spouse
and his or her lawyer in
an informal, respectful
setting.
• The ability to talk about
ideas and feelings in a
group situation without
fear that their words will
come back to haunt
them.

36. Some things to like about Collaborative Law
Individualized Solutions
• The Texas Family Code codifies rules for Judges to apply to
parental decision-making, visitation and child support that
don’t completely consider individual circumstances.
• Judges are also required to follow rules in dividing property
that sometimes don’t make sense for individual clients.

37. Collaborative Law Clients get Custom Results
 Collaborative Law
encourages clients to be
creative in meeting theirs
and their spouses needs
based on their unique
circumstances.
 The Collaborative Law
process provides clients with
experience they can use in
future problem-solving.

38. Conclusion
• The Collaborative process is not for all cases
• No system is perfect or foolproof, but
Collaborative Law clients are less likely to feel
they need to be dishonest
• For many families the Collaborative Law
process will provide the best available option
to preserve relationships and financial
resources

39. Find out more
• Learn more about the Collaborative Law process
• Find out about Training Opportunities
• Locate other Collaborative Law professional in your
area
Collaborative Law Institute of Texas
www.collablawtexas.com
and
Collaborative Divorce Professionals of San Antonio
www.collaborativeprofessionalsofsanantonio

40. Acknowledgement
Grateful appreciation and acknowledgement is
given to the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas
for its assistance and contribution in creating
this presentation on the collaborative law
process.

41. Questions?