Is the future of law collaborative?

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Is the future of law collaborative?

• Hearsay
• The legal podcast

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• Collaborative family law practices have
  experienced a surge in popularity over the past
  decade as couples are increasingly looking for
  less adversarial methods to approach separation.
  Collaborative law differs from other forms of
  alternative dispute resolution because the
  parties commit to the collaborative process by
  taking the alternative litigation off the
  table.  Instead, it is up to the parties and
  their respective lawyers to work together in
  four-way meetings, sometimes together with a
  collaborative law coach, to resolve the issues in
  dispute.

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• Prior to entering into a collaborative law
  procedure, parties and their representatives must
  sign a contract agreeing to not take the matter
  to court, which promotes a greater exchange of
  information. If the parties cannot reach an
  agreement however, their collaborative lawyers
  must not represent them in court.

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• The proven success of collaborative law in
  helping parties reach mutually beneficial
  arrangements, reduce legal fees and avoid lengthy
  court proceedings has incited wider discussion
  around whether collaborative law processes could
  be applied to legal disputes in other civil law
  areas, such as employment law or commercial law
  disputes. The concept of collaborative law
  practice first emerged in the United States in
  the 1980s and was brought to Australia in 2005 by
  Justice Robert Benjamin of the Family Court of
  Australia after attending a US convention.

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• Collaborative law reimagines the role of lawyers
  in resolving disputes between parties by
  challenging the traditional, rights-based
  adversarial method of litigation into a more
  problem-solving exercise that addresses the needs
  of both parties. In a Sydney Morning
  Herald article published in April 2021 Sue
  Abrams, Vice-President of the Australian
  Association of Collaborative Professionals,
  acknowledged that, more than not, people dont
  want to stab each other in the eye, they want a
  civil resolution.

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• The success of collaborative law is largely
  dependent on the parties voluntary and active
  commitment to reach a resolution that caters to
  their respective interests. Other than
  circumstances where it is clearly inappropriate,
  such as circumstances of domestic and family
  violence or abuse, its possible that
  collaborative law could be the future of
  mainstream dispute resolution in family law. Its
  been suggested to be most effective in situations
  where the parties express an interest in wanting
  to preserve their relationship for ongoing
  purposes, which could hypothetically apply to
  many areas of the law, including commercial
  matters involving disputes between companies and
  their investors, or suppliers and their customers.

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• The main challenge in persuading clients to opt
  for collaborative law is that they need to be
  committed to the non-adversarial nature of the
  process, and be open to the negotiations that
  meet the other partys needs just as much as
  their own. While we are yet to see collaborative
  law adopted in Australia outside family law, it
  may be a growing space for those navigating other
  types of relationship breakdowns who are looking
  for a less costly, quicker, interests-based
  resolution.

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• If youd like to learn more about collaborative
  law from Australian industry professionals,
  listen to Hearsays Episode 17 with Shelby
  Timmins from Divorce Done Differently, and Leona
  Bennett from Southern Waters Legal.