These are the questions to ask the attorney you are interviewing:

1.   “What percentage of your practice involves Collaborative Divorce cases?”

It is important to hire an attorney who is very skilled in collaborative process conflict resolution, and has a number of ongoing collaborative clients.   Merely having a web site reference that he or she practices “collaborative law” is not enough.    I’ve seen this in other local family law web sites, and yet that particular family law attorney is almost always in court, and is not a member of a collaborative practice group.  Even if they were previously trained, they may or may not be taking formal Collaborative cases any more.

2.     “How often do you participate in Collaborative Training?”

All collaborative divorce attorneys require specific training in the negotiation skills for this process.   Find out if that attorney is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professional (IACP) group, or CPCal, the state organization that provides annual trainings for attorneys, coaches, and neutral financial specialists.

All collaborative attorneys have also undergone significant mediation training and are trained mediators.  Not all mediators can be collaborative counsel. Special collaborative training is required.   While the process is amicable, the ultimate result still depends on the legal, emotional and financial implications of each desired outcome.  Your collaborative attorney is there to help you consider all possible options before reaching agreement.

3.   “Do you Have Satisfied Clients who have Used the Collaborative Process?

The answer should be ‘Yes!”    While giving out names of specific clients is not permitted,  client testimonials posted via social media sites can be a good way to see if that attorney has accomplished successful results in the past.

4.    “What are the Benefits and Risks of Using the Collaborative Divorce process?”

Most attorneys, coaches and financial divorce professionals will correctly identify that the primary benefit of this process is having control over the decisions being made over their family, finances, and division of property.  Another benefit is control over the scheduling, thus not being bound to the court’s availability and backlog of court calendars.

There is the risk of not getting everything you want  and possibly having to resort to litigation later where you turn over decision-making to a judge (basically a stranger to your family and situation.)  In my experience, a well-functioning Collaborative Team digs deeper into helping the couple create acceptable compromises and the risk of later litigation is substantially reduced.

(This is Part 1.  More questions to be answered in Part 2.)

Please call me or email me for a consultation.  Or check out our collaborative group web site:  CollaborativeDivorceMarinSonoma.org for more information. )