Collaborative Law

Divorcing couples choose collaborative law (also known as collaborative practice) for these reasons:

• each spouse has his or her own lawyer who is specially trained in settling cases,
• multiple meetings are held, with lawyers and clients present,
• the emphasis is on cooperation, not adversity,
• the clients decide the issues and propose solutions,
• the process is practical and efficient,
• a brief time-frame is involved,
• it’s less expensive than Court,
• the same financial disclosure is available as required in Court,
• the law of Ontario is followed unless the spouses agree otherwise,
• creative solutions can be developed,
• there is access to family and financial professionals who can bring specialized skills and information to the table.

Access to Other Collaborative Professionals

Using the collaborative process, you can ask a financial planner, chartered business valuator and/or a mental health professional to help you and your lawyers settle your case sooner, and at lower cost.

Here are some of the ways that these experts can help:

• A child specialist can help you and your spouse to see eye-to-eye on a schedule for sharing time with the children.
• Financial professionals can generate options for financial settlement, and run projections to demonstrate what the long-term impacts of a financial settlement on each spouse would be.
• If one or both spouses become emotional in meetings, an experienced mental health professional can chair meetings and identify triggers so that the productivity of a collaborative meeting can be maximized.