Collaborative practice

Collaborative practice or collaborative law is a way of resolving your family law dispute without involving a Court. You are in control of the outcome with collaborative practice and the goal is to work together with your former partner to arrive at the best solution for you, your children and your former partner. You obtain the help of excellent lawyers, financial advisors and collaborative coaches to help you to reach the best outcome.

In collaborative practice, you, your partner and both lawyers sign a Collaborative Contract in which you agree upon the terms of the meetings that you will attend. All of the issues are then negotiated in a series of meetings attended by the four of you and, in most cases, facilitated by a collaborative coach. The goal is to move away from being positional and towards a resolution that allows you to move forward with your life.

Part of the collaborative contract is that everyone agrees that they will commit to the collaborative process and not start litigation to achieve an outcome. If you choose to leave the collaborative process, you must find a new lawyer as your lawyer cannot represent you in court. This minimises the threats of litigation and focuses the parties on solutions.

One of our directors, Alicia Elliott, is collaboratively trained. She is on the board of Collaborative Practice NSW and the co-president of the Central Sydney Collaborative Forum. You can contact Alicia to make an appointment to discuss if collaboration is the best option for you.