HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 29, No. 2

All the WAys to CollAborAte Collaborative Law Section Chairs: Katherine C. Scott - Harris, Hunt & Derr, P.A. and Alice M. Boullosa - Alice Boullosa LMFT, LLC Many clients may not want or need our mainstream model of collaborative practice, or they may need more support F or many of us, collaborative practice means a process that involves attorneys, a neutral mental health professional and a neutral financial professional. But are there other ways to collaborate? Ron Ousky, former president of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, urges us to engage in “flexible team models” customized to meet each family’s unique circumstances. 1 For example, it all started with the attorney-only model. 2 In this model, each client is represented by an attorney. There are no neutrals or other professionals. This model might be good for families in short-term marriages with no children and few assets and debts. In parts of California and other places, the two-coach model 3 is predominant. This is where there is a neutral financial professional, and each client has a separate, aligned mental health professional, or “coach.” It oftentimes will also involve a neutral child specialist, who is also a mental health professional, who speaks directly with children and serves as their voice during team meetings. This model may be perfect for families that need more support, such as when there is a severe mental health or personality disorder, when there is a history of domestic 20 than our model provides. © Can Stock Photo / alphaspirit violence or other imbalanced power dynamics, or when children are facing major health or behavioral issues. There is also the option of collaborative mediation. 4 This is where, instead of using the typical neutrals, a mediator or co-mediators 5 are used. Consider this model when a client has an aversion to mental health professionals, wants the security of long-tested mediation confidentiality rules, or simply wants an experienced lawyer as a neutral. Finally, you may offer unbundled collaborative services. 6 This is where the clients mainly meet and work with a neutral mental health professional and financial professional, and only use the attorneys when needed or at the end to draft agreements. This model works where there are fewer resources or the clients need less direct legal support. In each of these models, both clients are represented by an attorney, and there is a written participation agreement that includes a withdrawal clause that says the attorneys cannot engage in litigation. Many clients may not want or need our mainstream model of collaborative practice, or they may need more support than our model provides. We can customize these and other models to help more families and build successful collaborative family law practices. Ronald D. Ousky, Developing a Range of Collaborative Models: One Size Does Note Fit All, in Building A Successful Collaborative Family Law Practice (Forrest S. Mosten & Adam B. Cordover eds., 2018). 2 Stuart G. Webb & Ronald D. Ousky, The Collaborative Way To Divorce: The Revolutionary Method That Results In Less Stress, Lower Costs, And Happier Kids — Without Going To Court (2007). 3 Forrest S. Mosten, Collaborative Divorce Handbook: Helping Families Without Going to Court (2009). 4 Elizabeth Potter Scully, Mediation and Collaboration: Harnessing Potential Synergy, in Building A Successful Collaborative Family Law Practice (Forrest S. Mosten & Adam B. Cordover eds., 2018). 5 See Adam B. Cordover & Rachel Moskowitz, Co-Mediation to Collaborative Mediation: A Case Study in Client-Focused Dispute Resolution, Commentator Magazine (Summer 2018). 6 Ousky, supra note 1. 1 Author: Adam B. Cordover - Family Diplomacy: A Collaborative Law Firm NOV - DEC 2018 | HCBA LAWYER

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