Learning new skills and breaking old patterns can be uncomfortable at first and takes some practice. Your Collaborative Attorneys will structure the contact between you and your spouse to promote good communication and to make sure no one manipulates or controls anyone else. Your individual Attorney's job is to make sure your needs and interests are made known and that the process and settlement addresses those interests. If need be your Collaborative Attorney will facilitate the involvement of other professionals to assist in the process.

Once your spouse or partner understands the advantages of the Collaborative Process he or she will be glad you found out about this superior option. Your Attorney can help educate your spouse about the following advantages of the Collaborative Process:

1. you two are in control of the outcome
2. you two are best able to recognize a fair settlement and what is best for your children
3. you set the timetable, not the Court or the Attorneys
4. it's less stressful
5. it's easier on the children
6. the needs and interests of both parties will be addressed
7. you won't waste time tearing each other apart and making a sad situation worse
8. you will end up in a different relationship than you have now but a better relationship than if you go to court
9. you will have more respect for yourself and how your ex-partner behaved during a difficult period than if you resort to petty, sand-box like behavior
10. most if not all of the embarrassing information that is publicly available in traditional divorces can be kept private.

Your safety must be our first concern. However, please consult with a trained Collaborative Attorney before running to Court. Opinions differ on this topic. Some attorneys feel most abuse situations require a traditional approach while others feel such situations are better handled in the Collaborative Process than in Court. Clearly such situations are more difficult and require closer monitoring to be sure the abuse is appropriately curbed. In Court, if a sanction or treatment is ordered, it is unlikely that it will be successful because the perpetrator is being "told" what to do and can easily reject the needed treatment as a sanction from an unworthy authority figure. Because of the confidentiality of the Collaborative Process, it is easier for the participants to be forthcoming about their weaknesses and thereby take the first steps towards accepting and choosing effective solutions and treatments. Immediate Court action is sometimes necessary but keep in mind that once you start down the traditional litigation road, it is may be harder to make a u-turn back to the Collaborative Process.

Your documents will ultimately have to be signed by a judge. There are limitations on what a judge can sign, especially in the area of child support. Your attorney will guide you into certain acceptable parameters but in general, you are in control of the out come. The exciting thing about Collaborative Practice is that when the rules allow you to effectively work with your spouse you will find better solutions than the Court can and you will be more likely to follow the agreements you create. Furthermore if there are disputes in the future your experience with the Collaborative Process will have equipped you to more easily handle the situation without the expense of litigation.

Every case is different of course but certainly the Collaborative Practice is nearly always cheaper than the traditional litigation process. What sense does it make to pay to obtain information you should freely exchange? What sense does it make to hire competing experts? Most couples, even when they are mad and hurt, have the ability to eventually determine what is best for their children and to make a fair division of their assets. In the traditional setting, this stage is delayed or never reached because the rules first require you to tear each other apart during temporary orders or in preparation for a possible trial. Most attorneys know roughly where your case is going to end up after a few minutes of talking with you. However, they don't know how to get you there without many thousands of dollars of dysfunctional war effort. With the help of a trained Collaborative Attorney the Collaborative Process lets you get to settlement without wasting time, money and feelings on fruitless attacks.

Often attorneys who have not been trained and have not gained experience in the Collaborative Process think they are cooperative and pragmatic enough to participate in a Collaborative case and that the Collaborative Process is not dramatically different from how they practice. Very little of law school or traditional practice prepares an attorney for the Collaborative Process. Specifically trained Collaborative Attorney's have undergone a change in their thinking that differs greatly from untrained attorneys. They have developed a unique skill set necessary for the Collaborative Process to succeed. Moreover, the Collaborative Process requires a written agreement with rules that fundamentally distinguishes the trained Collaborative Attorney from even the most cooperative and well-intended untrained attorney. Therefore, your chances of success are greatly increased if both Attorneys are sufficiently trained in the Collaborative Process.

All of the attorneys on this website have been specially trained in the Collaborative Process and in mediation. They are the only attorneys in the Spokane area who have this combined training. All attorneys on this site are deeply committed to making Collaborative Practice succeed. Many have committed hundreds of hours to bring Collaborative Practice to the Spokane area. They have been interested or heavily involved in promoting Collaborative Practice for years. As part of this commitment, most if not all of the attorneys on this site charge a lower hourly rate for Collaborative Practice work than for traditional legal work. They all offer a free half hour consultation to talk about Collaborative Practice. All of the attorneys on this site have taken more training or attended more related education seminars than the minimum qualifications required for membership in Spokane County Collaborative Professionals. All of the attorneys on this website are committed to following the advise and guidelines of world experts in the Collaborative Process and are members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.

Well trained Collaborative Professionals such as those on this website use many of the same skills as mediators. The Collaborative Process however has significant difference that clearly distinguish it from mediation. Court is largely removed as a viable threat in the Collaborative Process so one party cannot threaten, "take my offer or I'm going to court" as can occur in mediation. Many mediations occur without attorneys, or with attorneys who are still in the adversarial approach. In the Collaborative Process, attorneys advise and advocate but also work together with the other participants as part of a team, usually face to face in four way meetings.

Collaborative Practice can be used in all kinds of Family Law situations and for other areas of the law as well. It has been used to resolve disputes regarding child support, paternity, third-party custody, parenting plan modifications, maintenance modifications, residential schedules and a host of other family law concerns. It can also be used for employment disputes, probate issues, as well as some guardianship and real estate issues. It is being used in medical malpractice cases. If you have a dispute, ask an attorney trained in the Collaborative Model whether your dispute can be resolved with Collaborative Practice.

We all want the public to have a great experience with Collaborative Practice. Whether you are an attorney, financial expert, child expert, counselor, or other professional, your traditional training has not prepared you very well for what makes Collaborative Practice a unique and rewarding experience for all participants. Training specific to Collaborative Practice will assist you in transferring your professional education, knowledge and experience to the Collaborative Practice framework. It provides the links between the professions necessary for true collaboration to occur. The more training you have in Collaborative Practice, the more likely the public will benefit from your knowledge and the more likely Collaborative Practice will be successful and flourish.

Often attorneys new to Collaborative Practice wonder why it is necessary to enter into an agreement not to represent the client in court if the Collaborative process does not resolve all issues. The agreement to not use Collaborative attorneys in any future litigation is fundamental to what makes Collaborative Practice work. Such an agreement motivates all Collaborative participants to resolve all issues short of court. No matter how well intentioned the participants might be, if the hurdle to court is low, it erodes the structure that makes the Collaborative Practice model strong. In addition, in the Collaborative Process, an attorney hears things from the other client that would normally never be shared, thus giving the attorney an unfair advantage if the case went to court.

Adherence to professional ethics standards is a strong function of the various practice groups. Ethical considerations are always best dealt with by significant and varied input. The practice groups provide a venue for lively and learned discussions of ethical concerns as well as an avenue into the approaches and opinions of national and international organizations with similar concerns and standards. Practice groups can also present ethical dilemmas to the appropriate professional organizations with the strength of a collective group.

As an attorney the benefits are many. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits is the shift to a practice devoid of last minute runs to the courthouse, crisis and stress related to constant positioning for your client. A Collaborative case allows great predictability in your schedule. The case is handled according to the schedules of the parties, not subject to the dictates of the courthouse calendar. In addition the case can be addressed with the willing involvement of the necessary non legal experts. This means that there are no more "dueling experts" that require your time and energy to manage and prepare for. The experts are part of the same team and facilitate the movement of the case.

In addition, the rewards of seeing the immediate impact of work and satisfaction of clients is immeasurable. With the high level of client satisfaction at the end of the case, referrals are likely. Because the Collaborative approach can free up significant amounts of professional time case loads can be increased.

The real question is can you afford to continue at your current stress level and long hours? Being trained as a Collaborative Professional provides you a choice for managing and balancing not only your caseload, but your free time as well. Balancing your caseload with some lower stress Collaborative Practices cases will increase your overall productivity and sense of well being. The predictability of Collaborative Process cases allows you to easily strike a balance between your professional and private life. Reducing the stress and unpredictability factors in your caseload allows you the freedom to fully and adequately prepare for your non Collaborative Practice cases.

Professionals trained in Collaborative Practice collaborate! They do this through practice groups who set practice standards that fit the particulars of their community. Adherence to practice standards ensures that Collaborative Practice as a means of dispute resolution remains separate and distinct from the traditional litigation approach to dispute resolution. In addition, local practice groups advocate for appropriate court rules to support Collaborative Practice, provide forms specific to this model, and work to promote Collaborative Practice to the general public. Membership in a practice group is a way to reassure the consumer that they are truly getting a collaborative approach to resolving their dispute. Spokane County Collaborative Professionals (SCCP) is your local practice group, the sponsor of this website.

Yes. Collaborative Professionals of Washington is a group of Washington Professionals pursuing the promotion of Collaborative Practice, uniform court rules, appropriate legislation, coordinated trainings, and high standards of practice. Within the state wide group there are many local practice groups. This is another mechanism for maintaining the purity of Collaborative Practice.

The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) is the definitive practice group. Nearly everyone who gets the Collaborative Practice bug eventually joins the IACP. The IACP does a great job of providing promotional and educational materials, sponsoring international conferences and bringing together experts from around the world to address cutting edge Collaborative Practice issues. Some local practice groups require or strongly suggest IACP membership. For more information on IACP visit their website at www.collaborativepractice.com.

Not really, however membership in a recognized group communicates your qualifications to consumers. Membership in the local practice group also affords you the benefits of the power of group advertising and support. Most importantly it keeps you informed of advances in this evolving model and keeps you connected to other trained Collaborative Professionals in the community.

Yes. The state and local practice groups have standardized forms. We have a standardized fee agreement, participation agreement, allied hiring agreements, release forms, handbooks for clients, letters to send opposing parties, evaluation forms and other information to assist you in your Collaborative Practice. Some key portions of these standardized forms may not be modified in order to preserve the integrity of Collaborative practice. However, some modification to other portions of the documents may be made to meet you personalized approach. Membership in SCCP alone entitles you to use of many of the forms.