What is Non-Adversarial Issue Resolution?

Collaborative practice is a voluntary dispute resolution method, which, like mediation, is based on finding issue resolution not in court, but outside the traditional adversarial venue. Like litigation, it relies on two specially trained advocates trying to obtain the best possible result for their clients. Unlike litigation, counsel are retained essentially for one purpose: settlement. If resolution of all issues eludes the parties in a collaborative case, neither lawyer may represent his or her client against the other party in any future adversarial proceeding. A party desiring to take an issue to court must then retain litigation counsel for that purpose. The collaborative case begins with a signed agreement not to go to court, executed by both parties and both lawyers.
 

Why Collaborative Process?

Collaborative Practice Is a Coldly Calculated, Pragmatic Dispute Resolution Mechanism To do it well requires as much skill as any task a lawyer does. The goal is simple: achieve the best possible settlement for this particular client on these particular facts, without regard to the constraints of the judicial process imposed by statute and case law. The clients themselves decide the terms of their decree; the clients are the sole judges of how well the process succeeds—or fails.