Collaborative Divorce Law of the Palm Beaches

Florida Bar Family Law Section to Push Collaborative Law

The Family Law Section of The Florida Bar set out its legislative agenda for the next year. Each year the section chooses five pieces of legislation to lobby. Next year one of those five pieces will be to add a collaborative law section to Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes. You can see the entire bill and the background information here.

The goal ... is to encourage parties and their collaborative lawyers to focus on problem solving rather than positional negotiations.

The overall goal of the Collaborative Process Act is to support the continued
development and growth of collaborative process by making it a more uniform, accessible
dispute resolution option for parties. The collaborative process has thus far largely been practiced under the auspices of private collaborative participation agreements developed by private practice groups.

Collaborative practice will continue to be a voluntary process but the courts will have authority to enforce the collaborative participation agreement provisions such as disqualification.

Specifically, the goals are to:

A-Rod Divorce Settlement

It started out as a bitter fight, but Alex Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia, announced Thursday night  they have peacefully settled their multimillion-dollar divorce case.

"Cynthia and Alex Rodriguez have amicably resolved their dissolution of marriage proceedings," read a terse statement released by the superstar ball player's lawyer, Alan Kluger.

Too bad the petition was filed first. Adding gas to the fire by filing does little to create an atmosphere of settlement, so A-Rod and Cynthia should be congratulated.

Rosalind on the Radio

Our guest-blogger, Rosalind Sedacca,  will be interviewed about Child-Centered Divorce on the Pat Montgomery radio show, Parents Rule, on Thursday, September 25^th at 2:00 Eastern. You can listen at http://www.parentsrulewithpat.com or 1620 AM in the Atlanta area. Pat is an excellent interviewer and this content-rich show offers much of value for any parent facing divorce or living in its aftermath.

Collaborative Divorce Process Lessens Anxiety

Family law and anxiety have been a team for decades. When faced with divorce or ongoing post-judgment disputes, many people experience as much anxiety from the adversarial nature of the traditional litigation process as from the uncertainty of how to solve the presenting problem.   

Asking and allowing complete strangers to make decisions about the most important aspects of our lives, our children, our financial futures, and our property should not be the first choice in resolving family disputes. The Collaborative Divorce Law process provides an opportunity for families to directly participate in a thoughtful, deliberate and focused process to reach a negotiated agreement that meets the legitimate goals of both parties.   

In the Collaborative Divorce Law process, the parties agree ahead of time that they will not use the courts to force the hand of the other party.  They agree to use joint experts as necessary: neutral