This article is from Norma Levine Trusch, a Houston-based collaborative lawyer and former Collaborative Law Institute of Texas board member.
Ever since the Texas legislature passed the Uniform Collaborative Family Law Act, I’ve been obsessed with making collaborative law available for low income couples. Thanks to Jack H. Emmott III and Alissa Ruben Gomez, this is about to happen.
Jack is chairing the Pro Bono Committees of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas (CLI-TX) and the Collaborative Law Section (CLS) of the State Bar of Texas, and Alissa is the Executive Director of Houston Volunteer Lawyers (HVL). Together, we’ve been grappling with adapting the collaborative law process and forms for use by volunteer lawyers, mental health professionals and financial professionals. Our work will be utilized in a pilot project sponsored by our three organizations and utilizing volunteers from the HVL staff, corporate attorneys, and members of a Houston collaborative law group.
Our initial clients will be offered three two-hour collaborative law meetings in which to work out their agreements. Volunteers will have the option to participate in more meetings if they feel that the process has progressed sufficiently to warrant more time. In order for the process to be as efficient as possible, the client couples will be required to do initial preparation on their own prior to the first meeting, including reviewing the simplified Participation Agreement, providing financial information to their attorneys, and meeting with one of the collaboratively-trained mental health professionals to develop their goals and interests and be instructed on the expectations of conduct that they will be held to in the process.
The first training of volunteers has been scheduled for attorney members of the HVL staff as well as corporate attorneys who have been reluctant in the past to accept family law cases because they didn’t want to go to the unfamiliar and intimidating venue of family court. I am very excited by the opportunity to train civil attorneys in collaborative law.
Although they will be trained to utilize the collaborative process in family law cases, they will be learning a technique that they can easily transfer to their civil practices. Since this is a pilot project that we are hoping to replicate throughout the state, volunteer professionals will be asked to provide feedback regarding how the restructured process and the forms have worked for them and their clients. It will be interesting to see if the adaptations we have made will be effective in assisting these families in peaceful restructuring. I can’t wait!
This is a wonderful goal. If accomplished, low income consumers who need a collaborative resolution process will no longer be excluded because they cannot afford it. More professionals will be trained. The public will be made more aware of the benefits of the process. We can demonstrate our commitment to equal access to justice for married couples, partners and their children. Norma and Alissa are inspiring to work with and are both instrumental in making this effort a reality.
This is an incredible opportunity to help people in the collaborative process who would not otherwise get to experience this amazing alternative to litigation. I can tell you from experience that the professionals who participate will benefit as well. This work is rewarding beyond measure. Thanks to all of you in Houston who are willing to give your time to this project.
Thank-you Jack and Alissa for your dedication to providing the collaborative process to all. As a trained mental health neutral, I’m very interested in learning more about ways I can be involved.
The program as Norma has described it will put the initial responsibility on the clients to get the ball rolling since they must gather information and make appointments with mental health professionals to work out their interests and concerns. Handling the process in this manner will eliminate people who are not willing to help themselves and expect the professionals to do all of the work. This program will serve those who truly need and deserve assistance but cannot afford it.