Collaborative Law is a non-adversarial, problem-solving approach to resolving legal disputes. It is one dimension of a multi-disciplinary approach called Collaborative Practice. In the collaborative practice, lawyers act as advisors and helpers. The parties in a dispute and their attorneys agree that they will use their creative problem-solving skills, not court, to resolve their conflicts. An important distinction in the collaborative approach is that each of the parties and their attorneys actually sign a contract agreeing that they won't go to court. Then, everyone works together to find a solution to the problem. Without the threat of court, everyone is able to "think outside the box" and create solutions that are unique to their situation, not necessarily what a judge will do but a solution that will work for all involved.
Collaborative law is a cutting edge approach, practiced in almost every state in the US and many countries. Thousands of lawyers have been trained in collaborative law in the last decade.
Collaborative lawyers often work in interdisciplinary teams and the term Collaborative Practice generally describes the team process. Collaborative Divorce is also a term for an interdisciplinary team approach to divorce.
For more information and to see more collaborative lawyers in practice, see the following web sites:
www.collaborativepractice.com
www.bostonlawcollaborative.com
