Groups of divorce lawyers have developed collaborative law—a relatively new ADR process with many of the same peacemaking benefits for children of divorce and separation as mediation. While efforts are underway to expand collaborative law into other areas, it has its deepest roots in divorce and family law. Thousands of lawyers have been trained in collaborative law, and many parents have participated in it. Initial empirical evaluations of collaborative law indicate high levels of parent satisfaction. Many experienced divorce lawyers report that collaborative law increases their satisfaction with their practice because of the constructive role they play in helping parents reorganize their relationships with their children.
This column briefly describes what collaborative law is. It then focuses on the Uniform Collaborative Law Act (UCLA) developed by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) (formerly the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws). The UCLA is a milestone in the development of collaborative law, as it is a uniform statutory framework for its operation. Readers interested in more detail, including citations, about collaborative law and the UCLA can consult the current draft of the act (which has an extensive Preface and Commentary) and can be found at the Web site of the ULC,1 or at the Web site of Hofstra Law School.2 This author is the Reporter for the Drafting Committee on the act.
The Process and Features
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