Four Questions to Ask a Collaborative Divorce Lawyer

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More and more people are deciding that they want to avoid the traditional adversarial divorce court system and instead handle their family law matter privately and respectfully via the collaborative process.  In collaborative divorce, each spouse receives independent legal advice from his or her own attorney, and the attorneys are retained solely for the purpose of reaching an out-of-court agreement.  Oftentimes, experts will be brought in to help with parenting or financial issues.

Collaborative Divorce Lawyer

As collaborative divorce is becoming more popular and since Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the Collaborative Law Process Act in March 2016, more attorneys who are steeped in the old system of divorce court are now advertising that they offer collaborative services.  The issue is that the skillset needed to successfully help clients reach dignified agreements in collaborative practice is very different than the skillset needed to be an aggressive trial lawyer.

Below are four questions you should ask any attorney you are interviewing to possibly represent you in the collaborative divorce process.

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Client Review: Keeping It Real In Divorce

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I recently was reviewed by a former client on the Facebook Page for Family Diplomacy: A Collaborative Law Firm.  The client discusses the need to determine whether the style of an attorney you may use in your divorce is focused on encouraging fighting and earning the billable hour or encouraging collaboration and focusing on your family.

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FLORIDA BAR NOTICE:  Each case is different, and you may not retain the same or similar results.

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Vegas, Baby! IACP Forum Early Bird Pricing Ends 8/17

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For any collaborative professional looking to expense a trip to Vegas, look no further than the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (“IACP”) Networking and Educational Forum, taking place October 27-30, 2016, in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada.  And early bird pricing ends August 17, 2016, so you should sign up right away!

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The theme is “Welcome to the Future,” and 600 collaborative professionals from 27 countries are expected to attend.  There will be 8 in-demand Pre-Forum Institutes led by premier educators in the Collaborative community (including Pauline Tesler and Ron Ousky) as well as 30 intensive and intriguing workshops including 10 three-hour courses.

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Need Help Filling Out Florida Family Law Forms?

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There are many people facing divorce and other family law issues who have decided that, to the extent possible, they want to represent themselves (in legal parlance, this is known as acting “pro se“).  In recognition of this, the Florida Supreme Court has approved family law forms to streamline the process of representing oneself.

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However, even the most savvy among us, if they have not had legal training, can find the task of facing and filling out 100+ pages in forms to be daunting.  So what do you do if you want to proceed pro se and not have to pay for a full-time attorney, but still need some help and advice filling out the Florida Supreme Court-approved Family Law Forms?

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Tampa Rabbi Appears in John Cena “We Are America” Video

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For this past Independence Day holiday, WWE wrestler John Cena released a public service announcement video celebrating the diversity of the U.S.  In the video, Cena can be seen walking around the Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City as he proclaims that we all are America.

While the video is shooting, Cena passes by people of all races, nationalities, creeds, and orientations.  At the 1:07 mark, Cena walks by Rabbi Mendy Dubrowski of Chabad Chai South Tampa.

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You can find the video after the jump:

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Video: Tampa Real Estate Agent Discusses Collaborative Divorce

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Tampa real estate agent Rande Friedman was recently interviewed on the topic of collaborative divorce.  Rande, of White Glove House, has lived in the Tampa Bay area for the past 30 years, and he has been in the real estate industry for around ten years.

Rande is also a member of Next Generation Divorce, one of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary collaborative practice groups with professionals helping families in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota, and Manatee Counties.  Rande became involved in Next Generation Divorce after he helped a family who used the collaborative process in their divorce.  Rande found them in a better state of mind to agree upon their real estate needs and move on with their lives compared to clients who had litigated their divorce.

You can find a video and partial transcript of Rande Friedman discussing his experience with families transitioning via collaborative divorce after the jump:

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Protecting Your Tampa Bay Business With A Prenuptial Agreement

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Under Florida divorce law, businesses are subject to equitable distribution.  This essentially means that it can be considered a marital asset that is divided as part of the resolution of all divorce-related issues.

Small-business owners, who have shed blood, sweat, and tears for their endeavor, find it surprising and frightening that a business might be divided in divorce.  Further, this can be disruptive to the spouse of the small business owner; if the business begins failing due to protracted fighting or litigation, the spouse’s ability to receive alimony or child support is greatly reduced.

Protecting Your Small Business

One way to protect a business from the fallout of divorce is to enter into a prenuptial agreement or, if you are already married, into a postnuptial agreement.

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Video: Manatee/Sarasota Financial Professional Discusses Collaborative Divorce

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Divorce is not just a legal challenge.  It is also usually a financial challenge.

Unlike the traditional courtroom divorce, interdisciplinary collaborative divorce prepares clients to budget for the future and anticipate post-divorce life so that the challenges can be met.

Brian Pope of Divorce Financial Solutions is one of the premiere neutral financial professionals in the 12th Circuit of Florida (DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties).  Brian has an MBA and is designated as a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. In fact, several years ago Brian and I worked together to bring Next Generation Divorce – Florida’s largest practice group of independent collaborative attorneys,  mental health professionals, and financial professionals – into Manatee and Sarasota Counties.

You can find a brief interview of Brian and a discussion of his work in the collaborative process in the following video (after the jump):

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Helping Divorce Lawyers Become Peacemakers

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I am a collaborative family law attorney.  I help families divorce privately and respectfully so that they can end their marriage but also begin their post-marriage life as peacefully as possible.

I am also a trainer.  I train attorneys, mental health professionals, and financial professionals how to offer collaborative services to divorcing couples and others handling family law matters.

This past weekend I was in Chicago at a master class led by Forrest (Woody) Mosten on how to train in a way that lets divorce attorneys and others know that they can do well by doing good.  Woody is a leading collaborative attorney and mediator, as well as a best-selling author out of Beverly Hills, California.  He also happens to be a friend of mine, a mentor, and my co-author for an upcoming American Bar Association book on Building A Successful Collaborative Law Practice.

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The class, which included 15 hand-selected attorneys and mental health professionals from around the U.S. and Canada, was described by Canadian social worker and media personality Gary Direnfeld as follows:

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What Is The Least Expensive Way To Divorce In Tampa Bay?

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PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN IN 2016 AND THE HOURLY RATES BELOW DO NOT REFLECT OUR CURRENT RATES

You have probably heard of divorce horror stories where couples have suffered for years entrenched in court battles and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.  Fortunately, this is more the exception  than the rule, but still, divorce usually is not cheap.  It is a process, and there are raw emotions involved, but there are methods that can cost more or less.

So what is the least expensive way to divorce?

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