Cordover Leads Workshop At International Collaborative Conference

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.

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.

Another model that was discussed was the Two-Coach model, where each spouse has an attorney, each spouse has a mental health professional, and a neutral financial professional and neutral child specialist is used.  Still, another model is Collaborative Mediation, where each spouse is represented by an attorney and a neutral mediator is utilized.  Finally, another model is the Attorney-Only model of collaborative practice, where each client has their own attorney but neutrals are not used (or at least they are not used until it is determined later that they are needed for a specific purpose).

Other topics that were discussed in the Collaborative Multiverse workshop included how to contain costs of collaborative practice, and how to bring collaborative practice to more diversified populations, including LGBT families.

Cordover, Scudder, and Galbraith are all members of the newly-formed Peacemakers Practice Trainers, which provides divorce lawyers and others the tools to minimize the damage of litigation and learn how to make peacemaking their day job.  Peacemaking Practice Trainers are a group of select professionals brought together by internationally-renowned lawyer and author Forrest (Woody) Mosten and includes the following:

Members of the Peacemaking Practice Trainers at the 17th Annual IACP Forum (2016)

1. Adam B. Cordover, Tampa, FL
2. Dona Cullen, Portland, OR
3. Gary Direnfeld, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
4. Brian Galbraith, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
5. David Hoffman, Boston, MA
6. Robert Merlin, Coral Gables, FL
7. Ken Neumann, New York, NY
8. Enid Miller Ponn, Weston, FL
9. Ron Ousky, Edina, MN
10. Nancy Retsinas, Vancouver, WA
11. carl Michael Rossi, Chicago, IL
12. Kevin Scudder, Seattle, WA
13. Melissa Sulkowski, Erie, PA
14. Zanita Zacks-Gabriel, Erie, PA
15. Kathleen Zumpano, Portland, OR

If you have questions about how collaborative practice can help your family find a better path through divorce, or you are looking to bring a training to your community, contact Adam B. Cordover at (813) 443-0615 or fill out our CLICK HERE to fill out our contact form.

Adam B. Cordover is co-author with Forrest (Woody) Mosten of an upcoming American Bar Association book on Building A Successful Collaborative Law Practice.  Adam is also a member of the Tampa Bay Collaborative Trainers, which provides Introductory trainings in the Neutral Facilitator model of collaborative practice, and a member of the Peacemaking Practice Trainers.