If I Decide to Choose the Collaborative Process, Why Do I Need a Collaboratively Trained Attorney or Professional to Help Me?
All the professionals, lawyers, mental health coaches, financial neutrals and child specialist, are specially trained in the Collaborative Process. Each of the professionals attends trainings specifically to learn the process.
Attorneys, and other professionals, that have been trained in the Collaborative Process learn a different way to handle a very sensitive case, such as divorce. In the Collaborative Process, each person is a team member and treats each other as such. Attorneys are trained to work together and not have an adversarial approach to the divorce.
In order to resolve your differences using the Collaborative approach, each party will need to be represented by a collaboratively trained attorney. Depending on your issues, the use of financial neutrals and mental health coaches may or may not be necessary.
Attorneys and other professionals that have not been trained collaboratively are not able to participate in a Collaborative case. In a non-collaborative matter, parties do not have to be open and disclose all information regarding their assets or other matters relating to their marriage. In a Collaborative case, the parties are to be open and honest with each other and the other team members. Attorneys are taught to encourage the parties to be open with each other and are trained that if a party wishes to keep something confidential they have to back out of the process altogether and terminate their relationship.
Also, in a Collaborative model, the attorneys seek other professionals to help and to be part of the team with regards to finances and child matters. In a non-collaborative case, an attorney may try to review the finances and child issues themselves, before seeking outside assistance. In the Collaborative model, since all the professionals are trained collaboratively, each professional has a specific role in the process which may require some of the professionals to be more active in the process at different times.
