I just spent 2 days in a seminar training to become a "collaborative practice" attorney.   I was awestruck by the very real possibility of a dispute resolution process that actually seems to - wait for this one... RESOLVE DISPUTES!  Litigation has over the years become too expensive, inefficient, time-consuming, and unnecessarily confrontational.  At the end of the day, often the attorneys are the only winners and the parties end up with a mere fraction of what they had at the beginning.  Now, don't get me wrong.  When I  think I'm right, I love to fight about it as much as the next guy (just ask my husband).  But I am convinced that sometimes a fight is just not the best way to go. 

The collaborative process is a deliberate and coordinated problem-solving procedure.  The parties agree upfront NOT to go to litigation.  Instead, they meet with attorneys and other skilled professionals who are targeted to deal with the specific problems in the dispute.  Together, this "team" works toward achieving one goal - to identify and resolve the problem.  The process is client-driven, not court-driven and riddled with deadlines.  It is much faster than litigation and much cheaper comparatively.  It has an incredibly high success rate.

I would love to incorporate this new method of alternative dispute resolution into my practice.  I believe that it better serves the clients and does a better job than litigation at identifying real problems and the corresponding solutions.  I believe that it is the wave of the future.

For more about the collaborative process, read this article: http://collaborativepracticega.com/articles.html?nid=6817

Kim