What is Collaborative Law?

The development of the collaborative law process is credited to a family lawyer based in Minnesota named Stu Webb. Stu Webb was disenchanted with traditional methods of dispute resolution, namely litigation, and had a vision of a settlement minded approach to dispute resolution from the outset of the file. His premise was to create a deliberate, settlement climate in family law matters that removed the possibility of litigation and trial from being the initial consideration. He proposed that if settlement could not be achieved, and the parties were resigned to litigate the matter in Court, the collaborative lawyers would have to withdraw from the file.

With collaborative law, each side’s lawyer and their respective clients, along with any other relevant professionals such as accountants or counsellors, work collaboratively together to reach a resolution through a series of four-way, interest based meetings. The focus of the collaborative law process is on the needs and interests of the clients, not on the lawyers. The collaborative process is typically engaged at the outset of the file before the time and expense of a claim is filed and the litigation process is engaged. A Participation Agreement is signed prior to engaging in the collaborative law process. The Participation Agreement contains the lawyer withdrawal clause, encourages early and full disclosure and sets out the parties’ commitment to proceeding in good faith with transparency and respect.

The collaborative law process outlined by Stu Webb has been used to great success in the family law area. More recently, practitioners have began to apply the collaborative law process to non-family disputes. Collaborative law is transferable to all legal matters with perhaps the greatest success being found in matters where the parties wish to retain a workable relationship after the dispute is resolved.