How To Choose A Collaborative Lawyer

Collaborative family lawyers are experienced family lawyers who've undertaken Collaborative practice training and have experience in working as a member of a Collaborative multidisciplinary team. In South Australia you can find a Collaborative Practice practitioner on the Collaborative practice SA website www.collaborativepracticesa.com.au All members of Collaborative Practice SA are also members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP). On the IACP website www.collaborativepractice.com you will find a useful locate Collaborative Professionals directory which will help you find Collaborative Practice Professionals in your area.
Once you narrow your search to two or three Collaborative Practice lawyers you should interview several before deciding with whom you would like to work. When you interview your Collaborative Practice lawyer you should assess whether in addition to their legal expertise they will be a good fit to work with. The first conversation is a good guide to how it would be to work with your Collaborative Practice lawyer. If the potential Collaborative Practice lawyer spends most of the time focusing on the role of the law, money and strategies this is likely to result in there being a focus on traditional adversarial practice rather than focusing on your goals, interest and concerns. If the potential Collaborative Practice lawyer makes enquiry about what sort of divorce you want and the outcome you hope to achieve that Collaborative Practice lawyer is likely to be using interest based negotiation methods and likely to be able to help you achieve a durable outcome. You are likely to have found a Collaborative Practice lawyer who is committed to using Collaborative Practice to help you achieve your best divorce if that Collaborative Practice lawyer spends plenty of time in the first interview finding out about the people who matter to you, the reasons for separation and divorce and looks for ways to help you have a respectful conversation with your former partner in the Collaborative Process.

Before making a final choice of your Collaborative Practice lawyer find out how much training that person has had in Collaborative Practice and whether they have experience in working in a multidisciplinary team. Collaborative Practice has developed from a lawyer only model to one where lawyers have learnt a family relationship consultant can help parties improve communication and manage conflict. They have also learned a neutral financial specialist can help gather and explain financial information and create future projections for settlement options.