COLLABORATIVE IS COMING : COLLABORATIVE LAW PROCESS ACT HAS TAKEN EFFECT
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Naysayers should take a second look at this flourishing area of law , or risk being left in the cold .
Collaborative is coming . It may not be winter yet . But if you are a family law practitioner that initially judged the collaborative law process as faddish or fringe , you may want to rethink your first assessment if you want to keep up with the changing legal landscape . Like the mediation process that came before it , the collaborative process has grown from an unrecognized obscurity to a statewide alternative dispute resolution phenomenon . With growing memberships in local collaborative practice groups 1 and a section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association dedicated specifically to collaborative law ( aimed at all areas of civil practice , not just family law ), it is clear the legal community in Hillsborough County is buying into collaborative .
Indeed , in 2012 , the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit was one of the first judicial circuits in Florida to pass an Administrative Order ( S-2012-041 ) that both endorsed and regulated the collaborative process in family law cases . Until recently , however , there were no state laws to standardize or support the collaborative process .
In 2016 , the Florida legislature officially sanctioned the collaborative process by adopting the Collaborative Law Process Act (“ the Act ”), 2 which aimed to provide
a “ uniform system of practice ” for a collaborative process in family law to support the “ peaceful resolution of disputes and the early settlement of pending litigation through voluntary settlement procedures .” 3 The Florida Legislature provided that the Act would not take effect until 30 days after the Florida Supreme Court “ adopt [ ed ] rules of procedure and professional responsibility consistent ” with this law . 4
On May 18 , 2017 , the Florida Supreme Court adopted the required rules of procedure and professional responsibility ( Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.745 and Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 4-1.19 ), which went into effect on July 1 , 2017 . 5 Rule 4-1.19 , which is the rule of professional conduct , sets forth specific acts required for attorneys representing a party in the collabo - rative law process . Rule 12.745 , which is the procedural rule , outlines steps for the collaborative process , such as how it begins , concludes , and terminates .
Because Rules 12.745 and 4-1.19 had been effective for 30 days as of July 31 , 2017 , the Act became effective on that day . So , collaborative practitioners should study the Act and the new rules in short order to fully understand the statewide regulation
of the collaborative process , including how it starts and ends , 6 and the rules of confidentiality within the process itself . 7
So regardless of whether you thought collaborative was going to snuff itself out , the flame is only growing stronger , and spreading ( informally ) into other areas of civil practice . Naysayers should take a second look at this flourishing area of law , or risk being left in the cold .
1
Both Next Generation Divorce and the Tampa Bay Academy of Collaborative Professionals are organizations of collaborative professionals dedicated to promoting the practice of the collaborative law process in the Tampa Bay Area .
2
§§ 61.55 - . 58 , Fla . Stat . ( 2016 ).
3
§ 61.55 , Fla . Stat . ( 2016 ).
4
Id .; see also Ch . 2016-93 , § 8 , 2016 Fla . Sess . Law Serv . ( West ) ( to be codified at §§ 61.55 - . 58 , Fla . Stat .).
5
In re Amendments to Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 4-1.19 , 218 So . 3d 440 ( Fla . 2017 ).
6
§ 61.57 , Fla . Stat . ( 2016 ).
7
§ 61.58 , Fla . Stat . ( 2016 ).
Author : Lexie Revord Larkin - Probasco Law , P . A .
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