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Collaborative law (also called collaborative practice. divorce. or family law ) is a legal process enabling couples who have decided to separate or end their marriage to work with their lawyers and, on occasion, other family professionals in order to avoid the uncertain outcome of court and to achieve a settlement that best meets the specific needs of both parties and their children without the underlying threat of contested litigation. The voluntary process is initiated when the couple signs a contract (called the "participation agreement"), binding each other to the process and disqualifying their respective lawyer's right to represent either one in any future family related litigation.

Ever since its inception in the 1980s, the Collaborative Law movement has spread rapidly to most of the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia. [ 2 ] More than 22,000 lawyers have been trained in Collaborative Law worldwide and than 1,250 lawyers have completed their training in England and Wales where Collaborative Law was launched in 2003.

The growth of the collaborative process in England and Wales has been encouraged by both the judiciary and the family lawyers organisation, Resolution. [ 3 ] In an address to London family lawyers in October , the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice, Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore became the first member of the Supreme Court to publicly endorse Collaborative Law and called for its extension to other areas. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Previously, in October the Hon. Mr Justice Coleridge, a High Court Judge of the Family Division, had promised that collaborative agreements would be fast tracked in the High Court of England and Wales. [ 6 ] On 29 November , speaking at a reception hosted by the group, Collaborative Family Law, [ 7 ] Supreme Court Justice Lord Wilson of Culworth reaffirmed his commitment to Collaborative Law and other Family Dispute Resolution Services whilst criticising the Government's plans to cut legal aid, which he called a "false economy". [ 8 ]

The primary global collaborative organisation is the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), which was founded in the late 1990s by a group of northern California lawyers, psychotherapists, and financial planners. There are numerous practice groups (or PODS) of collaborative practitioners worldwide.

The American Bar Association ("ABA"), the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers ("IAML") [ 9 ] all have Collaborative Law committees.

IACP is an interdisciplinary organisation whose members include lawyers, mental health professionals and financial specialists. National Collaborative organisations have been established in many jurisdictions,including Australia, [ 10 ] Austria, [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Canada, [ 13 ] the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Kenya, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, [ 14 ] the Republic of Ireland, [ 15 ] Scotland, [ 16 ] Switzerland, and Uganda, as well as the United States. There is an active on-line collaborative community on Twitter. [ 17 ]

In England and Wales, Resolution, has assumed responsibility for the training and accreditation of all collaborative professionals. [ 18 ] Almost one-third of all English family lawyers have now completed their collaborative training. In the Republic of Ireland regional collaborative law associations have been set up in cities such as Galway, [ 19 ] Cork, [ 20 ] and Dublin. In France the AFPDC was created in to develop and implement collaborative practice in France. [ 21 ]

In the United States, the Uniform Collaborative Law Act was adopted in by the Uniform Law Commission, and thereby became available to the individual States to enact as law. In , the Uniform Collaborative Law Act was amended to add several options and renamed the Uniform Collaborative Law Rules and Act. As of October , the Uniform Collaborative Law Act was enacted into law in the states of Utah, Nevada, and Texas, and was pending enactment in several additional U.S. states. [ 22 ]

The Overview to the Act provides a comprehensive and reliable history of the emergence of collaborative law in the United States. [ 23 ]

Pauline H. Tesler, COLLABORATIVE LAW: ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE RESOLUTION IN DIVORCE WITHOUT LITIGATION (American Bar Association, 2001, ).

Pauline H. Tesler and Peggy Thompson, COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE: THE REVOLUTIONARY NEW WAY TO RESTRUCTURE YOUR FAMILY, RESOLVE LEGAL ISSUES, AND MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE (Harper Collins, 2006)

Friendly Divorce Christian Science Monitor – 21 May 2004 [2]

Getting a Divorce? Why it Pays to Play Nice, CNN Money – 1 July 2005 [3]

Bringing Harmony to Divorce – article by collaborative lawyers, James Stewart and Charlotte Bradley, published in The Times to mark the launch of Collaborative Law in London, 21 November 2006.[4]

Collaborating on Divorce, Forbes – 16 January 2007 [5]

A Sweeter Parting, Legal Week 29 November 2007 [6]

NYS Unified Court System's Collaborative Family Law Center [7]

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