Wiltshire News

Monday, 22 August 2011

“Collaborative practice is a facilitative approach to resolving disputes, where the parties, their lawyers and other experts, sign an agreement to focus on Negotiation and settlement rather than litigation.”[1]

Collaborative law is focused around interest based negotiation. The process allows parties going through a separation, to remain in control of their future both in relation to financial matters and children arrangements.

To engage in the Collaborative Process it is necessary to retain a lawyer who has been trained in this area.  Your spouse will also be required to retain a Collaborative Lawyer to engage in this process. You and your spouse then decide if you would like a Family Professional and/or a Financial Professional to be part of the problem solving team. The Collaborative process is a respectful process which aims to reach an amiable settlement between the parties.

The advantages of using collaborative practice to resolve family disputes are said to be that it:

• Reduces the time that lawyers must spend in correspondence with each other;

• Uses the expertise of independent experts including child specialists and/or financial advisors outside the adversarial system;

• Provides legal advocacy support during collaboration;

• Removes the threat of litigation;

• Encourages parties to develop a relationship of trust for their future parenting;

• Directly involves the parties in negotiation based on interests and not positions; and

• Aims to achieve results that meet the needs of both parties and their children.[2]

The Collaborative Process is becoming more and more popular in the United States of America and the Australian Collaborative Practice Guidelines for Lawyers have recently been released in Australia.

Andrew Wiltshire and the writer are now trained in Collaborative Law and are members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. If you wish to find a Lawyer who practices Collaborative Law you may go to http://www.qldcollablaw.com.au/ or alternatively http://www.collaborativepractice.com/_loc.asp.

Please do not hesitate to contact the team at Wiltshire Lawyers if you would like to learn more about the Collaborative Process. We have trained collaborative lawyers who can assist you.


Emma Ludeke
Family Lawyer
Wiltshire Lawyers

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation.

This article should not be considered as either formal or informal legal advice.  This article should only be read as general information relating to the particular subject matter it is written about.  The information may or may not apply to the reader's particular circumstances. Wiltshire Lawyers only purport to provide legal advice to clients who have provided detailed instructions and who have formally retained our services.