The
Collaborative Team
Resources:
CLIG Collaborative Practice of Georgia
ICLE Collaborative Practice
FACTS:
What is
collaborative law?
Collaborative Law is a new resolution method in which each
party retains separate, specially-trained lawyers who help
them settle the dispute. If the lawyers do not succeed in
helping the clients resolve the problem, the lawyers cannot
represent either client against the other again. All
participants agree to work together respectfully and
honestly to find solutions to the legitimate needs of both
parties. No one may go to court, or even threaten to do so,
and if that should occur, the Collaborative Law process
terminates and both lawyers are disqualified from any
further involvement in the case. Lawyers hired for a
Collaborative Law representation can never under any
circumstances go to court for the clients who retained them.
The
Collaborative Team
The collaborative team is comprised of attorneys for each
spouse, a divorce coach for each spouse, child specialist
(if children involved) and a neutral financial consultant.
The collaborative team is there to help facilitate
communication between the spouses and to work together
toward finding a resolution that is acceptable to all and
making sure all issues are addressed.
Attorney
Each spouse is represented by their own attorney who will
guide them through the entire collaborative process and
address all the legal issues such as property division,
alimony, child support, custody and visitation and
allocation of debts. · Divorce Coach. Each spouse consults a
divorce coach. A divorce coach is a mental health
practitioner versed in issues of separation, divorce and
remarriage. Divorce coaches are trained in clinical
psychology, counseling psychology, clinical social work,
marriage and family therapy or professional counselors. A
divorce coach helps the spouse manage the pain of divorce
and the changing relationship between the couple while
focusing on goals for the present and future. Divorce
coaches utilize clinical techniques to facilitate the
collaborative process and help the attorneys move in a more
effective fashion. Divorce coaches also help the clients
create a parenting plan. The divorce coach assists the
spouse in being at his or her best during the divorce
process and taking positive steps to a new life.
Child Specialist
The goal of the collaborative process is to assure that
children are a priority, not a casualty. The child
specialist, an individual skilled in understanding children,
will meet with the children privately, assisting them in
expressing their feelings and concerns about the divorce.
The child specialist will communicate the children’s
feelings, concerns, hopes and desires to the collaborative
team, including the spouses, which will help the spouses
form a parenting plan.
Financial Neutral
The parties pick one financial consultant who is neutral in
the process. The financial consultant will assist both
spouses in reviewing all assets and incomes and developing
viable financial options for the future.
Affiliates
Affiliates are professionals that have been trained in the
collaborative process that can help in other areas of the
divorce process if the need should arise.
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