In our court system, a divorce may take more than a year after a petition is filed to become final. Emotionally drained individuals walk away with no one a victor. Contact our firm today to speak with an attorney about the possibility of using the collaborative approach in your divorce.
Is It Better To Fight It Out, or Work Together?
Lawsuits can be costly, time-consuming and emotionally draining. Taking an important child custody, child support, property division or other divorce matter to court can result in an outcome that disappoints everyone involved. In fact, many lawyers and judges will say that if neither party is happy when the final ruling is made, it was probably the right decision.
There is an alternative to giving control over to the courts. You can work together in a collaborative law setting to resolve disputes and establish agreements that are truly custom tailored to the needs of your family. The team at the Sweeney Law Offices can help.
Our trained collaborative law attorneys serve the legal needs of families in the Pittsburgh area and throughout western Pennsylvania. Contact us today to discuss whether collaborative divorce may be a real option in your case, or continue reading to learn more about some of the general concepts and features of collaborative family law.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Collaborative Law
Q: What is collaborative law?
A: Collaborative law originated in Minnesota as a way to remove a matter from the adversarial court process to allow the parties to reach a settlement cooperatively. The parties commit to work toward a resolution and each retains their own attorney. If the matter cannot be resolved through the collaborative law process and the case must go to court, the attorneys must withdraw from representation and each party must hire new counsel.
Q: Is the collaborative law approach used in areas besides family law?
A: Yes, in many areas of the country collaborative groups are developing processes to be used in other areas of the law such as business disputes, probate, environmental, personal injury, employment and corporate law.
Collaborative Law - An Overview
Lawsuits can be time-consuming and expensive, and can take an emotional toll on all of those involved. While the formalities of the traditional adversarial process may be necessary to protect the parties' interests in some cases, the parties can save themselves time, money and stress if they are willing to work together in the collaborative law process. If you believe your legal situation can best be resolved through collaborative law, contact Sweeney Law Offices in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania to discuss your matter. An attorney experienced in the collaborative method can review your case and help you determine the best way to seek resolution.
Collaborative Divorce
The most significant developments in collaborative law have been in the family law arena. In fact, many people talking about "collaborative law" are actually referring to collaborative divorce.
Collaborative Law Practice Areas
While collaborative law is most commonly used to resolve family law issues, the use of the method is expanding into more practice areas - most notably in the areas of employment law, business disputes and probate.
The Development of Collaborative Law
Processes similar to collaborative law have been around a long time. In fact, the processes lawyers use in criminal law, juvenile law and child protective services have their roots in practices that incorporate many of the principles now enshrined in collaborative law.
The Comprehensive Law Movement
Collaborative law is often considered to be one component of the comprehensive law movement. The comprehensive law movement views law from an all-inclusive, holistic perspective. Rather than simply looking at what is going on in this particular case, the comprehensive law view attempts to see beyond the short-term outcome to the long-term effects the case may have on the parties involved.
Collaborative Law Resource Links
Collaborative Practice Center This site provides informational articles and video on the collaborative procedure.
Social Science Resource Network Running a "Title, Abstract & Keywords" search for "collaborative law" returns links to collaborative law papers.
ABA Formal Opinion 07-447 on Ethical Considerations in Collaborative Law Practice, as provided by Collaborative Association of Brevard Full text of the American Bar Association Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Formal Opinion 07-447, dated August 9, 2007, as provided by the Collaborative Association of Brevard.
It's All About the Relationship: Collaborative Law in the Employment Context Links to academic paper by Marcia L. McCormick, Samford University — Cumberland School of Law.
Law as a Healing Profession: The Comprehensive Law Movement Links to academic paper by Susan Daicoff, Florida Coastal School of Law.
