Today, Family Law clients in Kentucky have many options in choosing how they want to resolve their domestic relations disputes. 

COLLABORATIVE LAW

You have a right to be creative in solving your Family Law legal issues.

What is Collaborative Law?

"Collaborative Law" is one of several Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods enjoying increasing favor among consumers of legal services. It is significantly different than mediation or arbitration and has become enormously popular among legal services consumers and attorneys throughout the country.

In a Collaborative Family Law divorce action, the husband and wife are each represented by their own attorneys, but those two attorneys have both been trained in a new system of handling such cases by working together toward an equitable solution. In addition, both parties and their respective attorneys must sign a Collaborative Law Participation Agreement in which they agree to be strictly bound by the principles of Collaborative Law, which include:

• Neither side will file any motions with the Court.

• Both sides agree to fully disclose all assets and liabilities associated with the marriage.

• Both parties and their counsel agree that there will be no secrets and no dirty tricks.

• If either side starts filing motions with the Court, then both attorneys are automatically disqualified and the parties have to secure new attorneys.

• If all efforts by the parties and their counsel fail to result in a resolution, then both attorneys must resign from the case and the parties must both go out and find new attorneys to represent them in litigation.

• Collaborative Family Law requires that the attorneys on both sides be trained to work collaboratively with the other side.

• Everyone involved has to sign a Collaborative Law Participation Agreement. Other experts can be called in by the parties to assist them in resolving the case -- psychologists, psychiatrists, therapist, financial planners, etc. -- which makes these cases multi-disciplinary.
  This type of cooperative efforts to resolve clients' family law issues is a 180-degree shift from the way divorce and custody cases have historically been handled.

In Collaborative Family Law, there are no motions filed and there are no hearings. The parties and their attorneys meet together in a 4-way conference and agree to settle the case in the best and most inventive way possible, thereby eliminating much of the anger, hostility and resentment that usually accompany these cases. This, too, is a way for parents to focus their time, energy and attention on devising a creative way to share parenting time with their children rather than concentrating on how to defeat the "enemy".

Which Attorneys are Trained in Collaborative Law?

Specifically trained Family Law attorneys, financial professionals and mental health professionals serving the greater Louisville metropolitan area (including surrounding Kentucky counties) have joined together to create the Kentucky Collaborative Family Network, Inc. <www.kycollaborative.com>.  You can find a directory of attorneys and other professional trained in collaboration.

The Lexington/Covington/Northern Kentucky area's collaborative Family Law needs are served by the Northern Kentucky Collaborative Group, Inc. <www.nkcfl.com>.

Getting Started

If you’ve made your decision to proceed collaboratively, here’s how to get started:

1. Talk with your spouse or the opposing party about the benefits of collaboration.
2. Each party needs to choose a trained collaborative lawyer.  In the Louisville area, we recommend talking to professionals listed at www.kycollaborative.com/directories.php
3. Each party needs to meet individually with his or her own collaborative lawyer to discuss the details of the collaborative law process in your situation.
4. Both parties and both lawyers must sign a Collaborative Law Participation Agreement that binds all the participants to the principles of the collaborative process.
5. Both parties and their lawyers attend the first collaborative law meeting.  The ground rules of the process will be discussed, primary needs and issues will be identified, the executed Participation Agreement will be exchanged and future collaborative sessions will be scheduled.

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers' website at www.aaml.org offers a great deal of useful advice on this and many related Family Law subjects, including:

Keen Interest in Gentler Way to Divorce (PDF file)

Split Divorce: 'Collaborative Divorce' Helps People Avoid Judges, Confrontation and Drama (Sacramento Bee 1/14/07)

Talk to us today about how ADR (alternative dispute resolution) can help resolve your Family Law problem.

Learn more about:

Litigation
Mediation
Arbitration

Other important reading:

Choosing a Family Law Attorney
Controlling Legal Costs
What Lawyers Do
What Happens in a Divorce?
Dissolution Flow Chart (PDF)
Divorce Manual - A Client Handbook (PDF)