Family Law

The traditional divorce model pits husband versus wife, mother versus father. Collaborative Law is a refreshing team-oriented alternative. Each client retains a separate attorney whose job is to counsel the client and help resolve disputes. The attorneys work together to help both clients meet their needs. Open communication is advanced by a trained facilitator, while support and property options are developed by a neutral financial professional. The clients, attorneys, and other team members agree beforehand that the matter will not be brought into the court system until a full agreement is reached.

CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO FAMILY MATTERS

The Collaborative Process allows for flexible, creative solutions to a family law matter. The team explores options that look beyond a legal framework by incorporating the skills and expertise of the facilitator and financial professional. Clients are encouraged to focus on the best interests of their family, rather than rigid negotiation positions, to reach their goals. In the unlikely event that a settlement is not reached, the Collaborative attorneys withdraw and litigation lawyers may be retained. The knowledge that the Collaborative attorneys cannot bring the case in front of a judge further permits the parties to speak openly about potential settlement options (and frees attorneys from conducting exhaustive, costly opposition research).

Upcoming Books Help Lawyers Avoid Divorce Wars

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Tampa Bay divorce attorney Adam B. Cordover was recently cited in a news article from University of California – Los Angeles’ School of Law.  The article discusses books that teach lawyers to help families resolve divorce and other disputes privately and peacefully.  You can find the article below:

Three new books by UCLA School of Law faculty shine a light on non-traditional forms of practice in order to create greater access to legal services and to help lawyers master alternatives to litigation.

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Adjunct Professor Forrest Mosten ’72, a member of the UCLA Law faculty since 2002, and Lecturer Elizabeth Scully are co-authors of The Complete Guide to Mediation and The Family Lawyer’s Guide to Unbundled Legal Services. Mosten also is co-author, with Florida practitioner Adam Cordover, of a third book, Building A Successful Collaborative Practice, to which Scully is contributing a chapter. All three books are published by the American Bar Association. The Complete Guide to Mediation came out in 2015; the other two are slated for publication in 2017.

“We believe that lawyers should be more than gladiators,” said Mosten. “They can be healers and teachers, and their offices can be classrooms of client education. That’s a theme that runs through all of these books and my UCLA courses.”

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Financial Advisers Learn About Collaborative Divorce

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Financial advisers are tasked with protecting their clients’ wealth.  And financial advisers want to help clients going through divorce make smart decisions and preserve their assets.  On December 8, 2016, the professionals and staff of the Sabal Trust Company in St. Petersburg, Florida, learned how collaborative divorce can safeguard their clients’ wealth, time, and privacy.

Discussing Collaborative Divorce

Sarah Hoerber, Tanya O’Connor, and Adam B. Cordover at Sabal Trust Company

Sabal Trust is the largest employee-owned trust company in Florida, and its Principals and staff are invested in creating a strategic approach to its clients financial security and growth. That is why they invited Family Diplomacy managing attorney Adam B. Cordover along with forensic accountant Sarah Hoerber and Brandon attorney Tanya O’Connor to discuss collaborative divorce.

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Florida State University Business Law Student Interviews a Collaborative Lawyer

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Anthony Mazzola

BUL 3310 – 0002

November 23rd, 2016

For this assignment, I had the pleasure of interviewing Adam Cordover. Mr. Cordover practices in Family Law and works for a company named Family Diplomacy: A Collaborative Law Firm. During the interview, I received a lot of great insight on a new field of law that I have never heard of before, and overall had a great, memorable experience. I mostly used the sample interview questions for this assignment, but I also added a few of my own as I listened to his responses.

-Why did you become an attorney?

“I became an attorney because I like to figure things out. I was always good with puzzles and it seemed like the law was encoded and used all of these complicated terms. I wanted to get to know what all these terms meant and how to decode these terms. Going through law school and becoming a lawyer has helped me out on that.” This response was really interesting to me because most of the time the answer to this question is to help better society or help people out, which is also true for Mr. Cordover as mentioned later, but the idea of law being like a complicated puzzle was a very interesting point to me.

-What type of law do you practice?

“I practice collaborative family law. What that means is that I help families who are going through divorce and other family law matters outside of court. I am not a divorce trial attorney. I practice exclusively out of court dispute resolution.“

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Last Day for Ft. Lauderdale Basic Collaborative Training Early Bird

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November 30 is the last day to receive the early bird rate ($275) for a two-day introductory collaborative training around Ft. Lauderdale on January 6-7.  A third day of advanced training on January 8 is included in the early bird rate!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Who: This training is for attorneys, mental health professionals, financial professionals, and mediators

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What: A two-day introductory/refresher collaborative training that will provide skills and materials on collaborative practice, and an advanced 1-day training focused on, among other things, working with high conflict clients, screening for domestic violence and other mental health concerns, and professional self-care.  The two-day training meets the IACP minimum standards for an interdisciplinary introductory training.

When:  Introductory/Refresher – January 6-7, 2017; Advanced – January 8, 2017

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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Early Bird Rate for Ft. Lauderdale Intro Collaborative Training Ends November 30

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DON’T MISS OUT ON THE EARLY BIRD RATES

REGISTER NOW!!!

http://www.collaborativefamilylawfl.com/collaborative-training/

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BASIC AND ADVANCED COLLABORATIVE TRAINING

Friday January 6 – Saturday January 7, 2017 – Basic Training from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday January 8, 2017- Advanced Training from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

PLACE: Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Ave., Davie, FL, – Maltz Psychology Building

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Are you an attorney who wants to offer an alternative to litigation to your divorcing clients? Have you heard about this new way of assisting clients through divorce without the need for court
involvement? Are you a Financial Professional, Mental Health Professional or Mediator wanting to offer alternatives to traditional litigation support in divorce?

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Divorce Lawyer Reviews: “I felt empowered and more in control of my life and my divorce.”

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Divorce can be one of the most turbulent times in your life, and so it makes me feel good when I can help clients gain a sense of empowerment and stability.

Lawyer Adam Cordover | Lawyer Divorce

In a recent review on Avvo.com, a former client of mine discusses how our firm and the collaborative process helped her take back control of her life.

FLORIDA BAR NOTICE:  Please note that every case is different, and that you may not receive the same or similar results.

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Cordover Leads Workshop At International Collaborative Conference

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Tampa attorney Adam B. Cordover lead a workshop at the 17th Annual Educational and Networking Forum of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (“IACP”).  The Forum took place in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, and was attended by hundreds of attorneys, mental health professionals, financial professionals, mediators, and other supportive of helping families resolve disputes respectfully and privately via the collaborative process.

Cordover lead the workshop alongside Barrie, Ontario lawyer Brian Galbraith and Seattle, Washington attorney Kevin Scudder.  The program was called “Collaborative Multiverse,” and the idea was to lead a townhall-style debate and discussion among experienced collaborative practitioners on issues affecting collaborative practice.

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Brian Galbraith, Adam B. Cordover, and Kevin Scudder at the 17th Annual IACP Forum (2016)

One topic that was discussed was determining the best collaborative model to use for each particular family.  Different parts of the world predominantly use different arrangements of professionals to resolve divorce and other issues.  In Florida, the main model that is used is known as the Neutral Facilitator model, where each party has an attorney, a neutral facilitator with a mental health licensure helps with parenting issues and ensures discussions are future-focused, and a neutral financial professional aids in creating family budgets and ensures financial transparency and disclosure.

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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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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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Cordover Intern Trainer at Mosten 40-Hour Mediation Training

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Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator Adam B. Cordover served as an Intern Trainer for Forrest (Woody) Mosten’s 40-Hour Family Law Mediation Training.  The training took place September 13-17, 2016, in Los Angeles, California.

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Woody Mosten has been on the cutting edge of the law for over four decades as a leading figure in legal clinics, unbundled legal services, mediation, and collaborative law.  He literally wrote the book on these subjects, as he is the author or co-author of seminal works in the field, including the Mediation Career Guide, Collaborative Divorce Handbook, the Complete Guide to Mediation, and Unbundling Legal Services.

Further, Woody Mosten and Adam B. Cordover have been tasked by the American Bar Association to write a book on Building A Successful Collaborative Law Practice, which is expected to be published in early 2017.

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