Collaborative Family Lawyers & Professionals

What exactly is Collaborative Family Law?
Do I really need it?

Traditionally when clients instruct lawyers, they are funnelled into a legal process that they have very little control over. Also, lawyers have a reputation for being expensive, so people worry that their finances will spiral out of control.  As the legal system is confrontational and adversarial, people are often forced into opposing positions where they need to fight for their entitlements.

Collaborative law is different.  Lawyers are trained to work with the couples to identify their priorities and their worries.  Information is collected and shared in meetings with everyone present and potential solutions are weighed up so that the impact of these on both individuals can be assessed.

When couples need additional emotional support, a counsellor can be drawn in to work with individuals, or when they have trained as a family consultant, they can be part of the joint meetings so that when difficult topics are being talked about, additional support is there when it is needed.

Financial advisors can also work either with individuals to help them understand their own financial landscape, or join in the process as a neutral expert.

The mediator and arbitrator members of the group can be brought in to deal with specific issues and can also provide their own services alongside or instead of the collaborative lawyers.

We aim to work as a supportive team and can structure the work we do so that you are clear about what this will cost and because we do not need to wait for court dates, the speed of decision making is down to you.  We can speed up or slow down depending on what else is happening in your lives.