Collaborative Law

What is Collaborative Law?

Collaborative Law is a progressive family law process that assists parties to resolve their matter in an amicable and future-focused way. The starting point of Collaborative Law process is to “opt out” of court proceedings. Instead, parties agree to work together in a respectful and transparent way to resolve their family law matters by having open communication and taking a goal-focused rather than positional approach.

Collaborative Law utilises specially trained professionals, including the parties’ lawyers and a neutral independent chairperson, who facilitate a mutually beneficial environment for the parties to resolve their matter. Parties may also agree to include a neutral financial advisor or accountant to assist with complex financial aspects of property settlement. In parenting matters, a psychologist with a clinical background is engaged – usually as the chairperson – to help advise on aspects of the separation affecting the children and work towards child-focussed solutions. 

Prior to the commencement of the process, the parties and their lawyers agree to be bound by a participation agreement that sets out the standards of conduct and other parameters for involvement by each team member. The lawyers’ role is both as an advocate for their client and as a collaborative team member with the other professionals.

Why use Collaborative Law?

Going through a separation or divorce is already one of the most difficult times that people will face in their life and can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for those involved. Collaborative Law takes a non-adversarial, holistic approach to family law that focuses on parties reaching outcomes that are good for the whole family unit.

The Collaborative Law process:

• Assists parties to maintain amicable relationships and foster communication, which is particularly important where co-parenting is involved.
• Allows parties to participate in discussions actively and openly, without the threat of court looming in the background.
• Enables parties to cooperatively find “out of the box” solutions for complex financial arrangements that may not be available through traditional methods that conclude in seeking orders from a Court (where the orders sought may be considered to be unorthodox).
• Is focussed around the parties’ emotional and financial needs and can be adapted to those needs more easily than other processes.
• Supports parties in managing the stress of family law by negotiating within a supportive environment.
• Provides a less adversarial forum for parties to establish or develop suitable parenting arrangements and forge positive coparenting relationships.
• Assists and empowers parties to determine the outcome of their own financial settlement rather than relinquishing control of their family law matter.
• Is often more cost-effective and/or expedient than traditional family law processes.

How do I start the process?

Both you and your former partner will need to engage with separate Collaborative Lawyers in order to take advantage of the Collaborative Law process.

Our family lawyers Emmalaura Messer, Principal Family Lawyer and Andrew O’Sullivan-Newbold, Associate Family Lawyer are both experienced lawyers who have advanced training in Collaborative Law. To find out whether your family law matter is suitable for the Collaborative Law process, please contact us on 03 9629 7411 for an initial consultation.