Collaborative Law

Collaborative Law is a recent approach by specially trained and accredited family lawyers nationwide to manage divorce in a more dignified way.

Here at Copleys we are enthuisiastic fans of the collaborative process, and now have a trained Collaborative lawyers in Lucy Ardern at our Huntingdon office and Paula Hamilton at our St Ives office.

Under the scheme:

• All parties must agree in writing to reach a settlement without Court involvement one agreeing to work together to sort out issues regarding both money and children.
• In face to face meetings with both husband and wife and their respective Collaborative trained lawyers.
• The clients remain in control of the process but with Lawyers there throughout for legal advice and guidance. Utilising their skills in client representation, negotiation and problem-solving, collaborative family lawyers help their clients shape a fair agreement.
• If no settlement can be reached then both husband and wife must appoint new firms of solicitors to deal with the Court proceedings. There is therefore a strong financial incentive for both clients and solicitors to reach a fair settlement.
• Correspondence between solicitors is discouraged, keeping down costs and helping parties sort out separation in an amicable way.
• Unlike mediation, where a mediator advises you and your partner and where lawyers are usually excluded from much of the mediation process, in collaborative law both parties have their own lawyer to advise them throughout.

We are convinced that this approach is the future for divorce work, with sensitive, specially trained collaborative Family Law solicitors working together to sort out problems quicker, avoiding the stress, delay and confrontational approach that any application to court inevitably involves.

For any further enquiry, contact us today for advice from an expert family law solicitor.