LoDolce & Associates offers representation through collaborative law.

Collaborative Law relies on a commitment of both parties to settle their dispute outside of the courts and it is a process that lies somewhere in the middle of a litigated action and a mediated agreement. Like mediation, the parties agree to come together to settle all issues outside the courtroom. Unlike mediation, however, at all times collaborative law provides for both parties to each have an attorney to represent his or her interests. These attorneys, together with their clients, work cooperatively on all issues in order to reach a full decision without court intervention. An atmosphere of honesty, cooperation, integrity and professionalism is encouraged at all times, whereby the parties can resolve their differences absent the animosity often perpetuated in court litigated cases. When an agreement has been reached on all issues, the parties bring it to the court at which time a judgment of divorce is entered on a no fault grounds with the agreement incorporated therewith. All parties must sign the collaborative law agreement as set forth below.

Through collaborative law, the parties agree to share many expenses often duplicated in a litigated action. For example, an expert retained for the purpose of valuating a business or a piece of real estate at issue is jointly retained by both parties. The costs are reduced but the work product of the experts is shared.

An important concept of collaborative law that parties must consider is that in the event of the collaboration breaking down whether voluntarily by one or both parties or by some incident that requires court intervention, according to the collaborative law agreement, the parties’ collaborative law attorneys must withdraw from the case and any work product resultant from the collaborative law process must be disposed of. In essence, the parties, should they at any point decide to walk away from the collaborative law process, must start again from scratch.

The Role of the Mediator
Advantages of Mediation