Divorce privately with each party represented by a specially trained attorney.
No court or judge, so you stay in control. Less stress on your family, a far more predictable outcome and less cost.
In a traditional divorce proceeding, each side hires an attorney and both submit their dispute to a judge, who makes rulings on each issue submitted. While this method may be the only answer in some cases, there are alternate methods that most divorcing couples can utilize which may be more effective and less costly.
A creative alternative dispute resolution method.
Both parties to a divorce retain separate, specially-trained attorneys whose only job is to help them settle issues regarding the divorce and, if required, child custody or support. An agreement is entered into by the parties and the lawyers that they will not go to court and are committed to working out a solution and resolve their problems.
In essence, collaborative law succeeds because it puts two attorneys in the same room with their clients to pull in the same direction and solve the same list of problems. This allows for a more creative and peaceful resolution.
-Armine Baltazar, ADR Specialist, Managing Partner
Collaborative Divorce, the rules.
Both parties to agree to work together respectfully, honestly and in good faith to try to find an optimal solution for both sides. During the collaborative law process, neither party may go to court, or even threaten to go to court. In fact, if the collaborative law process is unsuccessful, the attorneys hired for the collaborative law process may not represent their clients in court and the couple would have to start again with new attorneys.
Here’s how Collaborative Divorce differs from mediation.
In mediation, a neutral party attempts to help the divorcing couple settle their case. However, the mediator may not offer legal advice or help with either side to advocate their position.
Collaborative Law allows for specially trained attorneys to facilitate the process by preventing emotion or a lack of negotiating skill from creating an unfair advantage or problem for either party.
The attorneys’ primary purpose is to work with their own client to prevent them from being overly emotional or unreasonable and make sure the process remains positive and productive. Support professionals and experts, such as mental health professionals, real estate agents, financial planners, and forensic accountants are brought into the process if needed.
Collaborative law attorneys are highly trained to help achieve the best possible outcome for both parties.
This type of attorney differs from the traditional divorce attorney representation in key ways. Rather than attempting to get the largest amount of money and property for their client, no matter what the cost, a collaborative law attorney is dedicated to assisting their client by ensuring that the process is completed smoothly with both sides receiving what they are entitled to pursuant to the law.
They operate with the highest level of integrity, so they will not take advantage of inadvertent mistakes made by the other party, nor will they threaten or insult their clients or the other side. While both attorneys owe primary allegiance to their clients, in accordance with the rules of professional responsibility, they also know that the way to best serve their clients is by working together to a just outcome.
Learn more about the collaborative law process at our website.
Contact
- Call our Santa Monica office at (310) 458-0796. Located at Ocean Park and 28th Street.
- Call our Costa Mesa/Newport office at (949) 631-2805. Located on Victoria near the 55.
- We accept most major credit cards.
