What The Collaborative Family Law Process Is



The Collaborative Law Process is an option, that is recognized and respected by the State of Maryland, that legal consumers have where each person has their own Certified Collabortive Law attorney from the beginning where each party and their attorney sign a pledge that they will make a good-faith effort to engage in this Collaborative Process instead of going to Court, or threatening to go to Court.   The parties are not giving up their right to Litigate if they choose to do so at any time.


The Collaborative Process involves the couple and their attorneys having a series of 4-way meetings to identify and creatively resolve the things that are most important for their family.


Each party has their own Maryland Certified Collaborative Attorney advocating for them with the parties choosing to Settle their case based on what they and their respective attorneys conclude may be a possible probable result if the case went to Trial, after working together to resolve the case, while avoiding the public Litigation Sytem and the risk, cost, stress, and loss of privacy that are inherently involved in it






Litigation can be acrimonious and contentious where you risk Losing Control of the process and the costs, and Litigation usually costs much more than Collaboratively resolving the case.


Collaborative Resolution can also allow the parties to be in control of the Time the process takes, rather than becoming subjected to the rigid dictates of the Court.


One of the ways the money and time can be saved is that the parties sign Releases for information of records saving time and money on the cost of having subpoenas issued.   This way both parties can be assured they are getting accurate information before making a decision.


In the Collaborative Law Process, processing emotion is part of the process in a way that may enable the parties to keep whatever is left of their relationship as intact as possible, where they can amicably Separate and Co-Parent their children as they move forward with their new reorganization of their families.


In the Collaborative Law Process each person has their own attorney to advise and protect them, but their attorneys have also agreed with them that the highest purpose of this Process is to come to a written Agreement among themselves rather than having a Court decide, and the Collaborative Lawyers help keep things from getting derailed from this track.


The Collaborative Law Process is different from Mediation.   In Mediation there is one Mediator and that person helps you work through the issues but is not advising you or advocating for you.   The Mediator is just there to help you identify the issues and work through them.


People will often consult with their own attorneys during the Mediation process, but those attorneys are not usually involved in the Mediation process itself, whereas in the Collaborative Law Process, the Collaborative Law attorneys are there with you all along, right there, every step of the way.


Another benefit of the Collaborative Law Process is the Privacy aspect, as the Collaborative Law process enables the parties to keep the details of their lives out of the Public Court system.


The Collaborative Law Process is also different from the Arbitration Process.   If the parties cannot Settle their case through the Collaborative Law process, they will both be free to each retain a new attorney to represent them in Court.   As with Mediation and Settlement Discussions, Nothing that was said in the Collaborative Law process may be repeated in Court.




Click Here to schedule an appointment with Certified Collaborative Law Attorney Laura Matney