In litigation, there is always a tension between trial and settlement. One of the biggest strategy challenges a lawyer faces in the litigation process is trying to be a diplomat and a battle leader at the same time. Essentially, it's trying to balance a diplomat's hat and a war general's hat on the attorney's head at the same time. In the litigation process, even if the parties are intent on settlement, the lawyer still has to in some fashion keep his or her "war general" hat on. One of the … [Read more...]
Collaborative Divorce: It’s Not Mediation or Arbitration
For many people, when they first hear about Collaborative Law, they think it must be similar to arbitration or mediation, two other processes some people have heard of. Although they are all three considered disputes resolution processes, they are very different. An arbitrator hears both sides and makes a decision, instead of letting the parties come to an agreement. It is very similar to litigation. A mediator is a neutral person working with both sides to try to reach an agreement. In … [Read more...]
Creative Problem-Solving: The Essence of Collaborative Divorce
When people are getting started in a Collaborative Law case, they sometimes have a little trouble translating their initial enthusiasm for the process into the nitty-gritty of problem-solving. They either bring in preconceived ideas about how they want or think the process will work, or they become overwhelmed by looking at the mountain of issues they must face and resolve. They often wonder how they can possibly get everything worked out. To help those starting on the Collaborative … [Read more...]
What Advice We’d Give Tiger Woods (If We Were Asked)
First of all, as fans of Tiger Woods, we find his current predicament regrettable. While we recognize that our society is curious about the lives of public figures -- especially those as well-known as Tiger -- we understand how much harder his current situation is, given that he's being tried in the court of public opinion. We don't expect that Tiger will call us up and ask for our advice. We hope that he's able to work things out with his wife and not have to go through the painful … [Read more...]
What Your Lawyer Won’t Do For You In Collaborative Divorce
When you enter into a Collaborative Law negotiation, you have a lawyer advocating on your behalf, and there's another lawyer advocating on the other party's behalf. Meetings involve you, the other party, and the respective lawyers, and the goal is to settle any outstanding issues outside of a courtroom setting. In the Collaborative Law process, the lawyers involved cannot go to court and litigate against each other or the parties. This accomplishes several things crucial to developing a … [Read more...]
Dividing the Family Business Without Destroying It
A nasty divorce resolved by a courthouse showdown can destroy the family, the family’s wealth and the family’s business. Sit down with any experienced family law trial lawyer, and he or she will be able to tell you war stories of courtroom shootouts where a warring family ended up destroying the very wealth they were trying to divide. The worst of these divorce war stories end with a business or personal bankruptcy, following a take no prisoners approach to a family’s divorce. There is a … [Read more...]
On Gay Marriage and Divorce in Texas
In the past week, Texas has unexpectedly become the epicenter for an interesting debate regarding gay marriage -- specifically, what happens when married same-sex couples want to divorce. In Judge Tena Callahan's view, a gay couple who was married in another state and now lives in Dallas has the right to get divorced. While the case brings up interesting issues around the Constitutionality of marriage bans and the growing number of states allowing for same-sex marriage, it also brings up a … [Read more...]
Is Collaborative Law Right for You?
Since Collaborative Law came to Texas in 2000, more and more people have heard about it and have used the process to resolve family law matters. As more lawyers, mental health professions and financial professionals have become involved in Collaborative Law, they are telling more and more potential clients about the new option that is available. People are also hearing about it from friends and discovering it on the Internet and occasionally in the news media. Because Collaborative Law is … [Read more...]
What Issues are Appropriate for Collaborative Law?
Many people think Collaborative Law is useful only in the easy cases where both parties are basically in agreement. They think that spouses or ex-spouses couldn't sit down together and have civilized negotiations on sensitive child custody or financial issues. Because couples sometimes get into arguments when they discuss emotional issues on their own, some think that Collaborative Law can't work in high conflict families or where there may have been infidelity or other misconduct. Actually, … [Read more...]
