THE COLLABORATIVE LAW PROCESS
Collaborative Law is a process used to settle cases without court intervention. It is a useful alternative to protracted litigation whereby the attorneys and the parties enter into a participation agreement in which they pledge to resolve all issues outside of Court.
The Collaborative Law model is an interest based approach to resolving issues, rather than the traditional position based approach. The attorneys participating in this method receive special training and education that encourages co-operative, non-combative behavior. The parties and attorneys are part of a team whose goal is a settlement that addresses each party's interests as best as possible.
Use of the Collaborative Law process results in a variety of benefits:
- It creates a cooperative environment allowing the parties to work with each other to meet their children's needs. This helps set the tone for open communication and reduced conflict in the future.
- It establishes a team instead of adversaries. Each party is represented by their respective attorney, but by working together the parties retain control of the outcome.
- The parties build their own agreement which helps insure greater privacy and confidentiality. Also, by building their own agreement, each spouse is more likely to abide by its terms.
- The parties attend meetings that fit into their schedule - not the Court's schedule. The fear and anxiety associated with court proceedings is alleviated and resolution of the issues is generally achieved in a shorter amount of time and with less cost involved.
The Collaborative Law method is spreading quickly throughout the U.S. and Canada with approximately 50 groups in existence. The Collaborative Family Lawyers of Cincinnati is one of those groups comprised of about 65 attorneys committed to resolving marital issues without conflict. It is an effective method to reach a solution where everybody wins.
Nancy
M. Janning, Attorney At Law
7616 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio 45236
ph: 513.984.8989 fx: 513.984.2192
njanning@cinci.rr.com
