What is a collaborative facilitator?

A collaborative facilitator is a specially trained professional who has various different roles in the collaborative process, and is available to both clients to:

• Identify and prioritize clients’ concerns;
• Help develop co-parenting skills;
• Help the clients focus on the needs of the children;
• Develop conflict resolution skills that can be used both during the collaborative process and after the divorce is finalized;
• Enhance communication skills;
• Reduce misunderstandings;
• Assist in focus on working towards resolution; and
• Perform any other activity agreed upon by the collaborative team.

Around the country, the collaborative facilitator is variously referred to as a communication specialist, mental health professional, coach, or child specialist.

If you want to learn how the collaborative process can provide your family a healthier path through divorce, you should contact a trained Tampa Bay collaborative professional.

—

Adam B. Cordover is a family law attorney and Executive Board Member of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay.

The post What is a Collaborative Facilitator? appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

Wrong.

According to a four year study conducted by the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, 87% of female participants and 47% of male participants of collaborative cases make less than $100,000.

Though the collaborative model will not be the cheapest model in all cases, it has a substantial opportunity to cost less than traditional trial practice for several reasons.

First, one of the most emotional and costliest issues in family law matters is child custody.  Attorneys in traditional litigated cases tend to draft questions to be answered under oath, set depositions, conduct research to not only put their client in the best possible light but to put the opposing party in the worst possible light, and prepare for trial.  The attorneys’ fees for each of these actions add up quite quickly.  On the other hand, all of these costs can be greatly reduced in a collaborative case with the inclusion of facilitators, who are generally trained mental health professionals, as they are able to cut through the clutter of emotionally-charged issues and bring the parties (and attorneys) to focus on the future and best interests of the children.

Similarly, the inclusion of a financial professional creates tremendous cost-savers.  For example, in traditional litigation cases, attorneys often draft requests that the opposing party provide reams of financial documents which could conceivably be relevant, and, once provided, the attorney can spend countless billable hours meticulously combing through the documents.  In contrast, in collaborative divorces, financial professionals will request documents that are tailor-made for this matter, and their familiarity and understanding of finances enable them to review and assess the documents and develop settlement options more quickly than attorneys.

Further, the fact is that the vast majority of litigation cases eventually settle.   However, because trial remains an option, in litigation practice lawyers always must have cases run on two tracks:  (i) reach out and attempt to come to settlement with the opposing party while (ii) always preparing to fight it out in court in the event that settlement is not reached.  In collaborative divorce, attorneys are retained solely for the purpose of settlement, and so they are not expending the extra time and resources planning for a court battle.

So, is collaborative divorce only for rich people?  The answer is a resounding “no,” and you should speak with a trained collaborative professional to find out how this process can help you and your family.

Adam B. Cordover is a family law attorney and Vice President of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay.

The post Is Collaborative Divorce Only for Rich People? appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

Based on Florida law, however, there are certain formalities that must be done through the court system.  I recently completed a collaborative case and thought it would be helpful to clients and attorneys to discuss finalizing a collaborative divorce in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida.  The Thirteenth Circuit consists of Hillsborough County and includes the City of Tampa.

In 2012, Chief Judge Manuel Menendez, Jr., signed an administrative order which recognizes and regulates the practice of collaborative family law in the Thirteenth Circuit.  The administrative order prescribes some specific procedures to follow.

In my collaborative case, the clients had already gone through the collaborative process utilizing a mental health professional/collaborative facilitator (Dr. James Morris) and financial professional (David Harper, CPA), exchanged financial affidavits, and executed a marital settlement agreement prior to filing.  The clients also both signed a Joint Petition for Dissolution of Marriage Utilizing the Collaborative Process.

When we opened the case with the clerk of the court, we filed the petition, the collaborative participation agreement, and redacted versions of the financial affidavits.  To maintain our clients’ privacy, unlike traditional divorce, we did not file the marital settlement agreement, nor did we file the original, unredacted financial affidavits.

When we filed the participation agreement, the clerk automatically provided us with an Order Setting First Collaborative Status Conference.  The Status Conference is generally scheduled about six months from the date of filing.  This order usually comes more into play when people begin the collaborative process after they had already filed for divorce, or when – by consent of both clients – there is a temporary agreement which they want ratified by a judge.

Since the clients in my case had already come to a full agreement before filing, we ended up scheduling a final hearing prior to the Status Conference.  The final hearing was scheduled on the Court’s regular Uncontested Hearing Docket.

Though not required by law or the administrative order, both clients and both attorneys appeared for the final hearing.  Of the ten or so uncontested divorces that were scheduled for the same block of time, the judge called our collaborative case first.

We all went before the judge, and the other attorney on the case, Beth Reineke, began “proving up” the divorce by having her client testify that the statutory requirements (such as the six month residency requirement and the belief that the marriage is irretrievably broken) were met.

We then notified the judge that the clients had exchanged fully executed and unredacted financial affidavits during the collaborative process, and we requested that the parties not be required to place the unredacted financial affidavits in the court file.  The judge granted the request.

Next, we provided a copy of the marital settlement agreement to the judge for inspection.  We requested that the judge sign a final judgment which incorporated the marital settlement agreement by reference rather than place a copy of the agreement in the court file.  The judge granted our request and returned the marital settlement agreement to us.

Finally, the judge signed the final judgment granting the divorce.

All cases are different, and you should keep in mind that judges do have discretion regarding agreements.  They have the power to reject marital settlement agreements if they violate the public policy of Florida.  For example, a judge would reject a marital settlement agreement if it required one of the parties to do something illegal.  Further, a judge will reject a parenting plan if it is not in a child’s best interests.  On the other hand, judges almost always find that it is in the best interests of children for their parents to agree on a parenting plan, and, accordingly, it is unlikely that a parenting plan developed during the collaborative process will be rejected.

The judge asked both clients their thoughts on the collaborative process.  They both expressed that it was surprisingly quick, relatively (though not completely) painless, and that they would recommend its use to others.

—

Adam B. Cordover is a family law attorney and Vice President of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay.  Adam served on the task force that drafted the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s collaborative family law administrative order.

The post Finalizing a Collaborative Divorce in Tampa appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

The training is co-sponsored by the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce Group, and will take place at the Tampa Club in Downtown.  Basic/refresher training occurs on March 21-22, 2013, while advanced training is set for March 23, 2013.  You can find the registration packet at the following link:

2013 CDITB Training Registration Packet

Sponsorship forms can be found at the following link:

Collaborative Training Sponsorship Opportunities

All divorces are comprised of legal, emotional and financial issues. Collaborative law offers an alternative, non-litigated, non-adversarial process. It utilizes an interdisciplinary team made of specially trained professionals who meet in a series of “team” meetings to help the couple resolve their issues in a civil and respectful manner. The “team” is made up of two attorneys, one neutral mental health professional and one neutral financial professional who work with the parties in a series of joint meetings. The parties voluntarily agree not to litigate, obviating the need for depositions, subpoenas or opposing experts. The attorneys advocate for their clients, but they share in the common goal of facilitating mutual agreement between the parties. Financial costs may be lower and the emphasis is on cooperation and family privacy. Either party may terminate the process and pursue traditional litigation in which case the entire team is disqualified from representing the parties in subsequent litigation. The collaborative law process allows the professionals to guide the couple through their divorce in an environment grounded in good faith, cooperation, integrity, honesty, transparency and professional ethics. The parties are empowered to determine their own unique resolution, collateral damage is significantly minimized and post-divorce familial relationships are enhanced relative to the traditional divorce process. The inclusion of the mental health professional in the divorce process is often the most critical component to a successful outcome.

The post Register for Collaborative Training in Tampa (For Mental Health Professionals, Attorneys, Mediators, and Financial Professionals) appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

You can find the save the date flyer by clicking the link below:

SAVE THE DATE Collaborative Training 2013

Registration information will be disseminated shortly.

Collaborative law is a private alternative to public courtroom divorce.  It leverages the skills of mental health professionals/child specialists and financial professionals to produce a tailor-made settlement of domestic relations issues and encourages a restructuring, rather than destruction, of the family unit.

The post Tampa to Host Collaborative Training for Attorneys, Financial Professionals, and Mental Health Professionals appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

“‘It’s pretty new in the Tampa area,’ said Adam Cordover, a family law practitioner and Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay board member. ‘The courts are so backed up, the judge(s) are on board with an alternative to contested divorces.’

***

Most divorce clients are initially unaware of the financial and emotional expenses associated with litigating their dissolution or how long it can take to get a final judgment, said Beth Reineke,  a family law practitioner specializing in out-of-court solutions and president of the Collaborative Divorce Institute.

‘More and more people are opting out of divorce litigation and using the benefit of attorneys’ assistance without litigation,’ she said.  ’There can be some discovery expenses and professional expenses, but I’ve had people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in divorce litigation.’

***

A key in the collaborative divorce process is the required formal participating agreement, which…stipulates that if the process comes to an impasse and goes to litigation, the lawyers must withdraw and new ones hired.

‘Since their attorneys can’t go to court, the parties are more open to ideas and suggestions,’ said Cordover, a member of the task force that helped draft the judge’s administrative order. ‘They know the attorneys are not preparing and gathering information for trial.’”

If you have questions regarding collaborative divorce, contact a collaborative professional near you.

The post CDITB Members Quoted in Tampa Bay Business Journal Article on Collaborative Divorce appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

For Immediate Release

August 3, 2012

TO:  Members of the Media

RE: Chief Judge of Hillsborough County Signs Collaborative Divorce Administrative Order

“They call it Collaborative Divorce.  It’s apparently all the rage right now.”  Jason Bateman’s character spoke these lines in the 2007 hit Juno, and now the practice has come to Tampa.

On July 31, 2012, Chief Judge Manuel Menendez, Jr., of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida signed an administrative order regulating collaborative family law practice in Hillsborough County.  The administrative order is just the fourth such order in the State of Florida.  The other circuits regulated by a collaborative family law administrative order are the Ninth Circuit (Orlando and Osceola Counties), the Eleventh Circuit (Miami-Dade County), and the Eighteenth Circuit (Brevard County).

According to Attorney Adam B. Cordover, “Hillsborough County’s collaborative law administrative order will bring more public awareness and certainty to this new and revolutionary form of family law practice.” Adam is a member of the task force that drafted and proposed the order and is also on the Executive Board of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay, which promotes collaborative practice for divorce and all other types of family law matters.

Collaborative practice (which is variously referred to as collaborative divorce, collaborative law, collaborative model, or collaborative process) is a relatively new form of alternative dispute resolution which takes divorce and other family law cases out of the public courtroom and into a private office.

Each party hires a collaboratively trained attorney and agrees from the very beginning to resolve personal and financial disputes without having a judge decide the outcome.

A neutral facilitator (who is often a trained mediator, psychologist, or other licensed mental health professional) is brought on board to ensure that discussions focus on the future of the family unit rather than the arguments of the past.  Additionally, the facilitator will ensure that discussions center around the interests of the parties (for example, “our child should go to a good school”) rather than on positions of the parties (for example, “our child must go to this particular school, or else…”).

A neutral accountant or other financial advisor may be brought on board when there are homes, businesses, mutual funds, or other assets that need to be divided.  The financial advisor will also come up with creative solutions for debt division, child support, and ongoing needs of the spouses.

According to financial professional David Harper, CPA, ABV, PFS, CFF, CBA, “Studies show that financial disputes are consistently the number one reason for divorce.  The collaborative divorce process promotes the honest exchange of all pertinent financial information so that each spouse has a comprehensive understanding of the financial aspects involved.  Because of this, the collaborative process often results in a settlement involving less money, less time, and less of an emotional toll on the spouses and their children than the traditional litigation process.”  Harper is an Executive Board member of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay and devotes nearly his entire practice to providing sound financial advice to families in the midst of divorce.

Collaborative practice has been gaining steam as a more sensible approach to divorce, and even celebrities are catching on.  Famous individuals who have utilized the collaborative process include Madonna, Robin Williams, and Cameron Crowe.

One of the lynchpins of collaborative practice is that, if the parties are unable to settle their differences and insist on going to court, their attorneys must withdraw, and new counsel may be retained.  Attorney Beth Reineke believes “This means divorcing parties are more committed to the settlement process and less likely to choose litigation if the road gets bumpy during negotiations.”  Reineke is a board certified emeritus family lawyer who has chosen not to litigate.  As president of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay, she either mediates with couples pre-suit or collaborates with the clients she represents.

More information on collaborative family law practice can be obtained from the Collaborative Divorce Institute’s website at http://www.CollaborativeDivorceTampaBay.com.

—

You can find a copy of the administrative order at the following link:  Administrative Order S-2012-041.

The post PRESS RELEASE: Tampa’s Chief Judge Signs Administrative Order on Collaborative Divorce appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

Collaborative Practice Model

The collaborative practice model is confidential and utilizes interest-based negotiations to resolve disputes through the structured assistance of collaboratively trained professionals, including but not limited to lawyers, financial professionals, mental health professionals, mediators, and other neutral professionals.  The collaborative practice model is authorized in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida to resolve dissolution of marriage cases and other family law matters according to the following procedures.

Role of Collaborative Professionals

A.    Collaborative Lawyers

The collaborative lawyers advise and counsel their respective clients, facilitate negotiation, and create written agreements.

B.    Neutral Mental Health Professionals/Neutral Facilitators

The neutral mental health professional, mediator, or other neutral facilitator is available to both parties and may work to:

• Prioritize parties’ concerns;
• Help develop conflict resolution skills;
• Develop co-parenting skills;
• Help the parties focus on the needs of the children;
• Enhance communication skills;
• Reduce misunderstandings;
• Assist in focus on working toward resolution; and
• Perform any other activity agreed upon by the team

C.    Neutral Financial Professional

The neutral financial professional is available to both parties and may assist in the following activities:

• Provide the parties with necessary financial scenarios and analyses regarding the division of assets, liabilities, and support, both child and spousal;
• Provide analysis of the nature and composition of specific marital assets (e.g., retirement, capital gain consideration, tax implication, etc.);
• Take responsibility for gathering all relevant financial information;
• Assist development of and understanding of any valuation processes;
• Assist with estate planning issues; and
• Perform any other activity agreed upon by the team.

Participation Agreement

If the parties and professionals desire to use the collaborative practice model, they must enter into a contractual commitment (Participation Agreement) to negotiate a settlement without using the court system to decide any issues of the parties…The Participation Agreement must provide that if a full settlement of all issues is not reached then the collaborative attorneys must withdraw.  The Participation Agreement should also contain a provision on the extent of maintaining confidentiality of oral or written communication exchanged during the collaborative process.  This confidentiality provision must comply with Florida law and rules of court….

Timing of Process

The parties may participate in the collaborative practice model either before or after a petition for dissolution of marriage or any other family law matter is filed.

A.    Pre-Filing Collaborative Cases

If the collaborative process is utilized prior to filing a petition for dissolution or other family law matter, the parties must file the Participation Agreement with the Clerk of the Circuit Court (Clerk) as a separate document at the same time as the petition.  If the parties have come to a full settlement of all issues prior to filing, then the parties may jointly petition for an uncontested family law action and set this matter for an uncontested final hearing.  In such a case, the 20-day waiting period will be deemed waived by the parties.

B.    Post-Filing Collaborative Case

If the collaborative process is to be utilized after an initial pleading has already been filed with the Clerk, then the parties must file the Participation Agreement with the Clerk and notify the presiding judge.  Upon notice to the presiding judge, the court will abate the court proceedings.  A collaborative status conference will be held within six months of the abatement.  The proceeding will remain abated until either an uncontested dissolution of marriage or a motion to withdraw by counsel is heard by the court.  Periodic status conferences may be scheduled at the presiding judge’s discretion.

We at the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay have been excited about this administrative order as three members of our Executive Board (Beth Reineke, Christine Hearn, and Adam B. Cordover) were on the task force designated with drafting a proposed collaborative law administrative order for Hillsborough County.

Please view our Directory of Collaborative Professionals to find a collaborative professional near you.

The post Tampa’s New Administrative Order on Collaborative Family Law appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

Judge Catlin and the CDITB Board
(From L to R: Dr. Bob Evans, Christine Hearn, Adam B. Cordover, Judge Catherine Catlin, Beth Reineke, Lara Davis, David Harper)

During the discussion, Judge Catlin unveiled the latest draft of an administrative order which will govern collaborative practice in Hillsborough County.  This will be just the fourth such administrative order in the State of Florida, and goes beyond the other circuits’ administrative orders in protecting client privacy.  Examples of these protections include the ability to (i) file redacted financial affidavits and (ii) ratify marital settlement agreements and parenting plan without placing these documents in the court file and in the public domain.  As many court documents will soon be accessible by the internet, these protections ensure that collaborative practice truly remains a private process for participants.

Judge Catlin worked alongside CDITB Board Members Beth Reineke, Christine Hearn, and Adam B. Cordover, as well as other interested parties, in drafting the administrative order.  Chief Judge Manuel Menendez, Jr. is expected to sign the administrative order within the coming weeks.

—

Collaborative Attorney Adam B. Cordover serves on the Executive Board of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay.

The post Judge Catherine Catlin Leads Discussion on Collaborative Divorce in Tampa appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.

Collaborative Law (CL) has become an increasingly visible form of practice in the past decade – particularly in the area of divorce. CL involves an agreement by counsel (and by their clients) to negotiate cooperatively, without resort to the court, to exchange needed information freely, and for counsel to withdraw from the case in the event that impasse is reached and litigation is needed.

The impetus for CL came from the fustrations, cost, and delay often association with litigated divorces. But most CL cases, like other divorce cases, take at least a few months – more typically, the better part of a year, and not infrequently more than a year. And so we were more than somewhat taken aback when a new client asked us “Is it possible to do this in 10 days?”

We scratched our heads and said, “maybe.” Plying our client with questions, we learned that he and his wife (we’ll call them Sam and Martha – not their real names) have been married for more than 20 years and have two daughters, one in a private high school and the other in a prestigious college. Sam has a modest-sized business, and the family lives comfortably, but they have never owned a house – they have always rented.
Sam and Martha had talked about separation and divorce for several months. They had tried couples counseling, but the wife ultimately concluded that the marriage was over.

Martha had found a house that she wanted to buy in the suburbs of Boston, and she had made an offer. The acceptance of that offer catapulted Sam and Martha into negotiations that they both wanted to complete in time for the signing of a purchase and sale agreement on the house.

The reason for haste was that the down payment on the house was going to require virtually all of the cash available to this couple. Our client was willing to turn all of that cash over to his wife in exchange for a signed Separation Agreement providing a definite and non-modifiable structure for his post-divorce obligations. He wanted to know, for example, that he could grow his business without having to worry about whether success would mean an open-ended liability for more alimony.

Martha, on the other hand, was less worried about the future – she was confident that her computer-related job skills would enable her to make a living, and she was willing to move very quickly to reach a deal. She was more concerned about buying a house when interest rates were at historic lows.

Sam first learned about collaborative law when Martha told him that she had hired Laurie Udell, a divorce lawyer and mediator and member of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council (MCLC). Martha gave him a list of CL attorneys, and, after reviewing the list of lawyers on the MCLC web site (http://www.massclc.org), Sam gave us a call.

Our first task was scheduling a series of meetings and coordinating everyone’s schedules. A CL process agreement was signed at the first meeting, and we began divvying up tasks. We needed values for the husband’s business and the commercial real estate on which it was built. Working together, the parties talked with two independent real estate brokers for an opinion of value on the commercial property. Instead of hiring an appraiser to value the business, they jointly interviewed some of its competitors, and found out what the competitors might be willing to pay for it. Martha felt comfortable with this method since she had been working in her husband’s business and knew the industry. They also prepared financial statements and gathered other documents (such as bank records and tax returns).

One of the critical breakthroughs for the negotiation came from a series of conversations that Sam and Martha had with their accountant. The parties both trusted him, and he proposed an arrangement that would allow Sam’s business to employ both daughters, earning them tax-advantaged funds for college. Another critical breakthrough was the parties’ agreement that the cost of the high school and college should be treated as a current liability, and therefore, in exchange for the husband taking on the entire responsibility for those expenses, Sam would retain 100% of the ownership in his business.

The collaborative process, of course, played a critical role in keeping this negotiation moving smoothly. A series of productive fourway meetings (ranging from two to seven hours), held approximately every other day for a week and a half, provided the forum for sharing perspectives – often sharply differing – about the fairness of various arrangements. Each of the lawyers worked hard to forge a relationship and feeling of rapport with the spouse on the other side of the table. (The lawyers already knew each other fairly well, which contributed to our ability to work efficiently with each other.)

Ultimately, the parties agreed to a 50/50 division of assets and a matrix for support payments that takes into account variations in both the husband’s and the wife’s incomes – i.e., support payments go up with increases in Sam’s income and go down when Martha’s income increases.

The Separation Agreement was signed on time, on the day when the very substantial P&S deposit was due. Our client and his wife deserve enormous credit for their ability to work together – when issues arose between four-way meetings, they quickly conferred and worked them out. Their strong motivation, resourcefulness, and commitment to the process sustained our momentum and kept us all on track. Their agreement was approved a few days later by the Probate and Family Court, with both parties expressing appreciation to the lawyers for the collaborative process. Our client reports that Martha succeeded in closing on the house and the two of them are still getting along.

Their children, of course, will be the beneficiaries of their success with the collaborative process. The experience also provided the collaborative lawyers in this case with an important learning experience – i.e., operating on the basis of trust and cooperation, while still taking professionally appropriate precautions to verify information, can move mountains and do so with amazing speed.

David A. Hoffman, Esq. is an attorney, mediator, and arbitrator at Boston Law Collaborative, LLC. He was the co-founder (along with Rita Pollak) of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Counci and currently serves as chair of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution.

Vicki L. Shemin, Esq., LICSW, is of counsel at Boston Law Collaborative, LLC, where she also serves as a guardian ad litem and parenting coordinator. She is on the board of the Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem.

If you have questions regarding how you can utilize collaborative law in your Tampa Bay family law matter, contact a collaborative professional near you.

Collaborative Attorney Adam B. Cordover serves on the Executive Board of the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay.

The post A Collaborative Divorce Success Story appeared first on Collaborative Divorce Tampa Bay.