Collaborative Law Answer to Divorce Corp. Highlighted Problems
A film entitled “Divorce Corp.” has been getting a lot of buzz lately by highlighting some of the problems with the current state of divorce. Though the film has been controversial among family law professionals, as it is said to focus on the extreme of family law cases, there is an answer to the traditional courtroom divorce industry as portrayed in Divorce Corp.: collaborative law, which is now offered throughout Florida.
Collaborative attorney Sandra Crawford recently wrote a piece about collaborative law for the Courier-News in response to Divorce Corp.:
The philosophy behind collaborative law is simple: Even if your marriage fails, that doesn’t mean you have to carry that failure over into your post-marriage lives.
Traditionally, divorces have been litigated matters, characterized by drawn-out, expensive and combative affairs in which each side “lawyers up.”
Now practiced in at least 25 countries, collaborative divorce (aka collaborative law or collaborative practice) is a “no-court-client-centered” dispute resolution process that separating spouses can use with the help of professionals (licensed legal, mental health and financial professionals) trained in collaborative law and mediation.