Collaborative Family Law

The collaborative law lawyers with whom I work are trained mediators. Collaborative lawyers and their clients contractually enter into a dispute resolution process whereby they are committed to provide full disclosure of information and to work together to resolve the issues in dispute. Spouses agree that if either decides to litigate, each must hire a new lawyer. This provides a powerful incentive to work through difficult, often emotional, differences of opinion. The collaborative family law process is enriched by the option of adding other professionals to the team, such as mental health practitioners and financial planners. The process is confidential and voluntary. Spouses control the timing and the details of their agreement.

Mediation

Disputants who select mediation also choose their mediator, their venue and the date of the mediation. Additionally, the mediations I conduct are confidential and efficient, resulting in innovative and voluntary outcomes. It is not surprising that disputants express significant satisfaction with this process. The research that I conducted for my Masters Thesis disclosed that disputants are much more satisfied with mediation when they have participated in a preliminary conference. Even more dramatic was the connection that I uncovered between preliminary conferences and resolution. In my survey, every dispute that had a preliminary conference settled. My office will arrange for meeting logisitics as needed.

Settlement Counsel

Preparation for mediation is an important predictor of outcome. Preliminary conferences are one method of preparation. Employing a Conflict Coach or Settlement Counsel is another. In this role, I advise one disputant only in the context of a specific dispute. I assist my client to select the appropriate dispute resolution process, to design the process and choose the neutral third party, to develop a dispute resolution strategy, to prepare for participation in the selected dispute resolution process and I coach my client about how to participate effectively.

Facilitation

Complex, multi-party endeavors benefit from the services of a professional who assists clients to identify the stakeholders and develop a consensus over process and a common goal. Facilitation is not limited to resolving an existing dispute; it may also be useful as a way of managing conflict so that disputes are prevented. As a facilitator, I also manage challenging dialogues in an objective, assertive, often creative, manner.

Dispute Management

Does your work place seem to have conflicts occurring among colleagues far too often? Is the public that you are serving expressing dissatisfaction with how you deliver your product? Businesses, organizations, churches, courts, government ministries and service providers can all benefit from a well-designed dispute management system. These systems may be introduced as one comprehensive system or in modules, depending on the resources available. They can be designed in such a way that they provide early and effective opportunities to address differences thereby preventing or containing dispute escalation.

Training

Learning about the various responses to conflict that each person has, their preferred response, and that individuals can choose their response to a given conflict is empowering. Acquiring new dispute resolution skills opens the door to innovative solutions.

My conflict resolution, negotiation, and mediation training workshops provide opportunities to practice the skills that are taught. Workshops can be designed and delivered as discrete events or as a component of either a dispute management program or a complex, multi-party facilitation.