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Texas Collaborative Law - An Introduction

Written by: Donald Edward Teller Jr.

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Posted over 3 years ago. Applies to Texas, 0 helpful votes, 0 comments

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What Is Collaborative Law?

Collaborative law is a non-adversarial approach to resolving family law disputes. Each party retains an attorney trained in collaborative law and those attorneys take the case off the court docket by filing a notice of collaborative procedures. The attorneys and parties often assemble a "team" of experts to provide neutral assistance with communication, financial, or children issues. The team then assists the parties through the structured collaborative law process to list the goals of each party, obtain the information needed to resolve the matter, determine alternative solutions for children, personal, and financial issues, and then assist the parties in negotiating a resolution.

How Does Collaborative Law Differ from Traditional Family Law Litigation?

Unlike litigation, collaborative law lawyers and parties work together in a structured, non-adversarial environment towards a "win-win" solution. Some differences between collaborative law and litigation are as follows: 1. All participants agree to not take their differences to court unless they terminate the collaborative law process entirely. 2. All participants have the opportunity to state their goals and voice their concerns in a non-threatening environment. 3. The parties reach agreements during each step of the collaborative process instead of being forced to accept a judge's ruling. 4. The parties can customize the terms of their case rather than make their case fit the common model. 5. The parties share information openly rather than use the expensive discovery process. 6. The parties utilize common neutral experts to assist with communication issues, children concerns, and financial matters rather than try to demonstrate why their expert is right.

How Does Collaborative Law Differ From Mediation?

In most mediation cases, the parties have already been through the expensive discovery process, become polarized in their positions, and focused on winning. Mediation usually consists of the parties setting aside a day and working to resolve their issues before leaving that day. Many mediators are focused on obtaining an agreement; not whether the agreement is actually good for the parties. If the parties do not have attorneys with them at mediation, the parties may not know their rights and settlement options before settling their case. In collaborative law, no one is forced to enter into an agreement without ample time to consider its pros and cons, and to obtain advice from their attorneys and other professionals. The collaborative law process calls for information to be shared openly and considers whether the agreement is beneficial to the parties. Collaborative law is non-adversarial and each party strives for the "win-win" solution instead of striving to "win" for themselves.