COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE AND FAMILY LAW IN FLORIDA. No matter how you look at it, divorce and family law matters are difficult to go through. Expectations of stability are shattered,

mistrust grows, and bills pile up. And then the litigation begins. Attorneys file and serve petitions, counterpetitions, requests to produce, and motions to compel. Each party hires dueling mental health experts to convince a judge that he or she should have more time with the children. Privacy is eliminated as each party’s life is probed and publicly questioned so that one side may gain a tactical advantage.

But there is a different way. A more civilized way. And it is called Collaborative Family Law (also known as Collaborative Divorce or Collaborative Practice).

We are a Collaborative law firm dedicated to helping people resolve personal disputes without destroying their families. We encourage the use of the Collaborative Family Law model in divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, post-judgment, prenuptial, and most other family law cases.  Further, Adam B. Cordover is an internationally-recognized leader in Collaborative Practice, a trainer who teaches other professionals how to help families Collaboratively, and author of an upcoming American Bar Association book on Collaborative Law.

Introducing Tampa Bay Collaborative Trainers

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We are in exciting times!  In March of this year, Governor Rick Scott signed the Collaborative Law Process Act, and rules of procedure and professional conduct are pending before the Florida Supreme Court.  Divorce attorneys and other professionals are realizing that being trained in the collaborative method is now essential for any family law-related practice.  This presents a tremendous opportunity for expansion for all of our practice groups.

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It is in this environment that we are excited to announce the formation of a new training team!  Tampa Bay Collaborative Trainers offer a customized two-day introductory interdisciplinary training in the neutral facilitator/neutral mental health professional model at a low-risk cost structure that will help you build a vibrant collaborative community. 

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Free Communication Tools for Collaborative Law Cases

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One of the great things about collaborative law is that families are not handcuffed by the over-scheduled dockets of judges, nor are they bound by the confines of the overcrowded courthouse.  This provides families and professionals with a lot of freedom on how, when, and where they make long-lasting decisions and resolve disputes.

Still, it can sometimes be daunting to organize meetings around the busy lives of spouses and practitioners.  Here are four tools to help communication in collaborative cases, and the best part is that do not cost a dime.

Doodle

One of the toughest initial tasks of any collaborative divorce case is to find a time that works for all of the professionals to plan out how to best help out the family.  Similarly, carving a time that also works for both spouses  for the first full team meeting adds two more calendars to consider.

Fortunately, Doodle provides an easy and free way to help coordinate schedules.  Simply go to their website, provide some basic information such as title for the event, location, description, your name, and your e-mail address, and then fill out a grid for all of the proposed dates and times of your meeting.  Next, provide the e-mail addresses of the people with whom you need to schedule, and Doodle will send out a message inviting everyone to fill out the grid.  Every time someone responds, you will get a notification, and Doodle will indicate the date(s) and time(s) that works best for everyone.  If no time and date works for everyone, simply create another Doodle.

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I have found that in person meetings are generally the best way to communicate in collaborative cases.  However, in person meetings are not always possible, and sometimes they are not desirable.

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Video: Social Worker Gary Direnfeld Discusses Collaborative Law

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Gary Direnfeld is a social worker based in Dundas, Ontario, where the courts consider him an expert in social work, marital therapy, child development, and custody and access matters.  And Gary has a message for spouses considering divorce: stay out of the courts.

I got to know Gary this summer at a training in Chicago where we were learning to teach divorce lawyers and practitioners how to become peacemakers.  He is passionate about his work to help families in difficult circumstances.  In the short video below, Gary discusses an alternative to divorce court battles that he recommends: collaborative law.

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Video: Tampa Hosts 4th Annual Collaborative Law Conference

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In May 2016, Tampa hosted the 4th Annual Conference of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals.  The conference ended up being the largest gathering of collaboratively-trained attorneys, mental health professionals, and financial professionals in the organization’s history.

You can find a video of highlights of the conference after the jump.

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World of Collaborative Practice: A Father Discusses His Collaborative Divorce

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The World of Collaborative Practice Magazine is an online forum for collaborative professionals to write about news as well as the latest trends in collaborative practice.  On September 15, 2016, the Magazine published the transcript of an iHeart radio interview from here in Tampa of a father discussing his collaborative divorce.  The father, “Claire,” appeared with his collaborative attorney Julia Best Chase, along with Family Diplomacy managing attorney Adam B. Cordover, who represented Clair’s wife.

The World of Collaborative Practice

You can find a portion of the article reproduced after the jump.

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Proposed Collaborative Divorce Professional Conduct Rule Published in Florida Bar News

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In March of 2016, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law the Collaborative Law Process Act (“CLPA”).  The CLPA, among other things, protects communications within the collaborative process so that participants can be more open in their discussions and can rest assured that proposals and comments made while trying to reach agreement cannot later be used against them.

However, the CLPA does not go into effect until after the Florida Supreme Court adopts Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules of Procedure.

Proposed rules have been approved by the Florida Board of Governors, and they have been published in the August 15, 2016 edition of the Florida Bar News for comment.  Once the comment period is over, the Florida Supreme Court will determine whether it will approve the rules.

You can find the proposed Rule of Professional Conduct (4-1.19) after the jump (the proposed Rule of Procedure is published in a separate post):

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Proposed Collaborative Law Procedural Rule Published in Florida Bar News

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In March of 2016, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law the Collaborative Law Process Act (“CLPA”).  The CLPA, among other things, protects communications within the collaborative process so that participants can be more open in their discussions and can rest assured that proposals and comments made while trying to reach agreement cannot later be used against them.

However, the CLPA does not go into effect until after the Florida Supreme Court adopts Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules of Procedure.

Proposed rules have been approved by the Florida Board of Governors, and they have been published in the August 15, 2016 edition of the Florida Bar News for comment.  Once the comment period is over, the Florida Supreme Court will determine whether it will approve the rules.

You can find the proposed Family Law Rule of Procedure (12.475) after the jump (the Rule of Conduct is published in a separate post):

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Cordover Mentioned in New Book on Marketing Your Collaborative Practice

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Joryn Jenkins, a Tampa Bay collaborative attorney and multi-book author, has recently published her latest offering, “Open for Business: Changing the Way the World Gets Divorced.”  The book focuses on marketing for collaborative professionals.

Joryn, a friend and colleague of Family Diplomacy managing attorney Adam B. Cordover, acknowledges Cordover’s impact on the collaborative community along with founders and leaders of the collaborative movement:

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Video: What Is A Collaborative Child Specialist?

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Collaborative family law is a process that can be tailored to your family’s specific needs.  In all collaborative cases, issues related to divorce are discussed peacefully and respectfully in private conference rooms rather than confrontationally in public courtrooms.  Each spouse has their own attorney – who focuses exclusively on helping his or her client reach an out-of-court agreement – on whom the spouse can rely to provide advice and guide them throughout.

Oftentimes, experts are brought into the collaborative process so that the clients can reach a comprehensive agreement that deals not only with legal issues, but also emotional and financial resolutions.  Experts end up making the process much more efficient by being able to handle issues far more quickly than attorneys are able to.

One option that families may want to consider is whether to bring in a child specialist.  The short video after the jump, produced by Cypress Collaborative Divorce, discusses the role of the child specialist.

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Cordover Presents on Collaborative Divorce for the Middle Class

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On August 24, 2016, Family Diplomacy managing attorney Adam B. Cordover spoke in Jacksonville, Florida, on the topic of “Collaborative Divorce for the Middle Class.”  The workshop was organized by the Collaborative Family Law Group of Northeast Florida.

2016-08-24 Jacksonville Collaborative Presentation - Cordover

Collaborative divorce is a process that is available to help families privately and respectfully reach agreements no matter their income level or size of their estate.  Though it has been thought of as alternative dispute resolution for the rich (and it certainly is an effective method for handling complicated cases), more middle class families are learning that it is accessible for them, as well.

If both spouses can hire attorneys, then the question becomes not whether they can afford collaborative practice, but whether they can afford any billable hours being spent on anything other than trying to reach an out-of-court agreement.

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