collaborative attorney Archives - Page 14 of 23 - Family Diplomacy

Pauline Tesler on Stu Webb (from 1999)

December 24, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, International Academy of Collaborative Professionalsby Adam

Stu Webb is known as the father of collaborative family law, a non-adversarial process where the spouses’ attorneys agree to focus solely on out-of-court dispute resolution. Pauline Tesler is oftentimes thought of as the mother of collaborative divorce, emphasizing the benefits of an interdisciplinary team and spearheading the creation of institutions, such as the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (“IACP”), to help more families.

Back in 1999, Pauline wrote an article in the very first edition of the Collaborative Quarterly (requires IACP membership & password to access), a publication of the IACP (then known as the American Institute of Collaborative Professionals) about Stu Webb and the origins of collaborative law.

You can find excerpts from that article below:

Stuart Webb, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, had been practicing family law in the “usual way” for more than twenty years when, like many of us, he became interested during the late 1980’s in mediation and alternative dispute resolution….

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Collaborative Training for Family Law Staff

December 19, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative divorce training, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorceby Adam

When a potential client calls your firm, who is the first person with whom she speaks? When a potential clients arrives at your office, who is the first person that he sees? If you are a collaboratively-trained attorney, mental health professional, financial professional, or mediator, there is a good chance that your staff is the first voice that a potential client hears, the first face that a potential client sees.

How is that staff member representing you? Is that first interaction being used as an opportunity to familiarize the client with the term “collaborative practice?”

Joryn Jenkins

Those first interactions are but one of the many different skills that a friend and mentor of mine, Joryn Jenkins, will discuss in her unique collaborative training geared towards professional staff.

The training will take place in Tampa, Florida, on January 22, and it will also be streamed live for professional staff that is outside of the area.

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A Friendly Divorce in Tampa Bay

December 18, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative family law, Collaborative Law, collaborative practiceby Adam

Have you had friends or family members who have gone through a War of the Roses divorce? These are divorces where each spouse hires a “pit bull” attorney, they both engage in a scorched earth strategy, and they try to win at all costs, even as both of them tend to lose.

If you do know people who have experienced this, you have probably wondered whether divorce needs to be this way. Is there an alternative? Is there a friendly divorce?

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Video: Separating Together

December 16, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative practice, Next Generation Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam

A collaborative practice group out of North Carolina called Separating Together has put together an excellent video that emphasizes that divorce is not only a legal process, but it is also an emotional, logistical, and financial process.

You can see the video below:

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A Low Profile Divorce for High Profile People

December 14, 2015/1 Comment/in Collaborative Divorce, Divorce, Private Divorce //Tags: celebrity divorce, collaborative attorney, collaborative child specialist, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative practice, high profile divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorceby Adam

We see it in the news and magazines all of the time. Publicly available divorce documents accuse a celebrity of secretly supporting a child born out of wedlock. Sports figures’ assets and judgment become public spectacles. Politicians and their spouses lob accusations at each other for all to see. Businessmen’s private details and dirty laundry end up as front page stories.

Fortunately, your divorce does not need to be in the public eye.

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Potential Drawbacks to Collaborative Divorce

November 18, 2015/1 Comment/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: American Bar Association, collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative family law, Collaborative Law, collaborative practiceby Adam

I strongly believe that the vast majority of Tampa Bay spouses who are considering divorce would be best served by engaging in the collaborative divorce process, where attorneys are used as problem-solvers rather than gunslingers. Decisions such as where children will sleep at night are made by parents rather than judges, and interactions between the parents are private and confidential rather than public and discoverable by their children in the future.

And yet, I would be remiss if I were to not underscore that there are potential disadvantages to the collaborative divorce process. In fact, in 2009, the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, Collaborative Law Committee Informed Consent Subcomittee published its draft Suggested Protocols to Obtain Clients’ Informed Consent to Use a Collaborative Process.

From the Suggested Protocols, families who are considering the collaborative process should know the following:

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Video: Collaborative Law in Medical Malpractice

November 17, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, Collaborative Law, collaborative practiceby Adam

Here in Tampa Bay and around the world, collaborative practice is most frequently associated with divorce and other family law matters, as a non-adversarial method to resolve disputes. And yet, the collaborative process has been and is being used in many different legal matters, including in the area of medical malpractice.

Many times patients and their families simply want to know what happened when there has been an injury or fatality at a medical facility, and yet doctors feel hamstrung as they are afraid that any discussion will be utilized against them as an expression of culpability. The collaborative process provides a safe space for direct and confidential dialogue, and it also allows hospitals to be more open in examining incidents and figuring out how to avoid error in the future.

Iact Program

Below is a video from a pilot program, the Integrated Accountability and Collaborative Transparency (IACT) Program from North Carolina: Read more →

Video: Collaborative Practice in Brazil

November 14, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, International Academy of Collaborative Professionalsby Adam

Collaborative divorce is a relatively new concept in Tampa. It is counterintuitive to think that attorneys would promote a concept that keeps divorcing spouses out of court. Further, who would think that attorneys would be willing to take a step back, and allow (i) mental health professionals to take the lead in emotional divorce discussions and (ii) financial professionals to be the point people on the division of assets and debts and other support topics.

Image Description

And, yet, that is what collaborative lawyers do.

Collaborative practice is growing around the world, including in Brazil. Below is a video in Portuguese that discusses collaborative divorce in Brazil:

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Video: Stu Webb’s Collaborative Divorce & Jazz

November 11, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative child specialist, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam

Stu Webb is an attorney from Minnesota who one day decided that he no longer wanted to be involved in the destruction of divorce court, and so he created collaborative divorce. Collaborative divorce is a private process where spouses become teammates rather than opposing parties, and attorneys focus on problem-solving rather than fighting.

Oftentimes accountants, psychologists, financial planners, therapists, and others are used to make sure that not just the legal needs, but also the emotional and financial needs of the spouses are met.

Collaborative Divorce has become more common here in Tampa Bay as families and attorneys realize that the court system should be seen as a forum of last resort, rather than first resort, to resolve personal issues.

Now, as it turns out, Stu Webb is not only the founder of collaborative divorce, but he is also an avid fan of Jazz. You can find a short video he helped create comparing collaborative divorce to jazz after the jump.

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Money Talk 1010 AM: Mediation Divorce and Collaborative Divorce

November 4, 2015/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce, Family Law News //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative family law, Collaborative Law, collaborative practice, mediationby Adam

I recently had the opportunity to appear on Money Talk 1010 AM on the “Let’s Talk Law” Radio Program.

I was joined by Pasco and Pinellas family law attorney Audrey Jefferis, and we discussed, among other things, the similarities and differences between mediation divorce and collaborative divorce. The radio program, which you can listen to after the jump, was recorded in the St. Petersburg studios of Beasely Broadcasting.

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Tag Archive for: collaborative attorney

Pauline Tesler on Stu Webb (from 1999)

Collaborative Training for Family Law Staff

A Friendly Divorce in Tampa Bay

Video: Separating Together

A Low Profile Divorce for High Profile People

Potential Drawbacks to Collaborative Divorce

Video: Collaborative Law in Medical Malpractice

Video: Collaborative Practice in Brazil

Video: Stu Webb’s Collaborative Divorce & Jazz

Money Talk 1010 AM: Mediation Divorce and Collaborative Divorce

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