Collaborative Practice

Collaborative Practice is relatively new in Australia. It was developed specifically for the resolution of Family Law matters. However, it has now been adapted for use in a range of commercial settings also. The process requires the parties and their lawyers to attend a series of four-way meetings in which they resolve their family law issues.

An unique aspect of this process is that all parties (including your lawyer) sign a contract about how they will behave in the meetings. The contract becomes a powerful document which promotes fair and respectful communication.

The contract also discourages either party from threatening to go to Court. If either party files an application in Court the Collaborative process immediately comes to an end and cannot be restarted. Even more discouraging, you cannot use the lawyer who acted for you in the Collaborative process to act for you in Court. You will have to instruct new lawyers from scratch.

All of our partners are trained Collaborative lawyers. Our partners are also members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Collaborative Professionals (NSW) and the Central Sydney Collaborative Forum.