Zen and the art of harmonious divorce
Stuart Webb, a Minneapolis, MN-based family law attorney founded the Collaborative Law movement in the 1980s. As a practicing attorney, he became somewhat disillusioned with the anxiety and frustration that both he and his clients were experiencing during traditional family law cases and began exploring other alternatives. The challenge was a big one as Webb had to find a way to bring the particular talent of lawyers as problem-solvers into a ‘settlement only’ process for family law representation. With that thought in mind, Webb created a model where lawyers could not, under any circumstances, go to court over any issue. Lacking court as a dispute-resolution option, lawyers would have no alternative but to rise to the challenge of solving problems and divorcing couples would have to find a way to work together to separate without all of the toxicity that normally surrounds traditional divorce cases.
Collaborative Law is born
In 1990, Webb announced to his clients and colleagues that he would no longer go to court on behalf of matrimonial clients; he would only represent clients in a participatory negotiation process aimed solely at creative settlements. If the process could not result in settlement, Webb would refer his clients to litigation counsel and withdraw from the matter.
Many attorneys in Minneapolis found Webb’s concept both intriguing and workable and decided to follow his lead. This group of lawyers formalized Webb’s concept by preparing a contract which both lawyers and both spouses would sign, committing the four parties to negotiate diligently and in good faith, and requiring the lawyers to withdraw from the case if it went to court.
Meanwhile, the word was getting out and lawyers in other jurisdictions were experiencing similar dissatisfaction with the ordeal that family law had become. Today, there are more than 10,000 professionals trained in Collaborative Law in the United States and over 200 Collaborative Law groups around the world, including the Bucks County Collaborative Law Group.
The concepts behind Collaborative Law
In a collaborative divorce, divorcing couples are required to make a commitment and sign an agreement that states that both will negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement without having courts decide issues, maintain open communication and information sharing, and create shared and mutually beneficial solutions. In other words, the goal is to get divorcing couples to put aside their differences and come to a suitable resolution, which is in the best interest of both spouses as well as their children.