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Collaborative Law

The No-Court Divorce: Collaborative Law

In researching attitudes towards divorce, a survey conducted by the family law group in December 2004 found that 82% of people considered it important for family lawyers to secure a fair resolution to a dispute. In addition, 55% said it was very important to avoid a court battle. This highlighted the need to help the public understand alternatives to the traditional Court based based approach and saw the introduction of 'Collaborative Law' throughout England and Wales during 2005.

Collaborative Law has already been running in the US and Canada since the 1990's and boasts a 95% success rate for couples who had divorce, separation and parenting disputes. If it is accepted in the UK as it has been in the US, the traditional Court-based approach to family law could soon be limited to highly contested disputes.

At its simplest, Collaborative Law is based on 3 principles:

• Negotiate and settle disputes without Court action; 
• An honest exchange of information by both parties; and 
• Create shared solutions that are right for the family's priorities.

The advantages:

• Couples set the agenda and control the decision making process, without having to go to Court. 
• Couples commit to fully disclosing facts and information. 
• Negotiations are held on the basis of preserving trust and respect for both parties and their self-esteem. 
• Negotiations are face-to-face, rather than heated exchanges through written correspondence. 
• Solutions are reached through a problem solving approach. 
• Couples agree 'fair' solutions that match the family's priorities. 
• Children's needs are given priority. 
• Helps to reduce stress by allowing couples to work at their own pace and remain in control of a process that can be alien and intimidating.

All parties sign a Participation Agreement not to go to Court. If an agreement isn't reached a fall-back of using Court proceedings is permitted, but both lawyers will be disqualified from further participation and each client will have to start again with a new solicitor.

Qualified Collaborative Lawyers

Two members of our Family Team, Andrew Mercer and Yvette Rooke, are qualified Collaborative Lawyers. If you are considering resolving your family dispute using the Collaborative Law method, please take advantage of our free half-hour interview.

Collaborative Law Website

Visit the Collaborative Lawyers website, which offers information about the Collaborative Law process as well as providing contact details of qualified collaborative lawyers in the South and South West of England.