The rise of Collaborative Practice in Family Law is undoubtably having a positive impact on both the profession, and the clients we serve. Those who undertake the formal training report invaluable insights which only compound when those skills are applied to real cases.
Even for those who are not collaboratively trained lawyers, incorporating collaborative principles into your daily practice can lead to better outcomes for your clients, reduce conflict, and improve professional relationships.
The Core Principles
Collaborative Practice is built on a few fundamental principles that can be integrated into any family law practice:
- Open and Honest Communication – Encouraging transparency and reducing adversarial tactics.
- Interest-Based Negotiation – Focusing on long-term needs rather than positional bargaining.
- Client Empowerment – Helping clients take an active role in negotiating and resolving their own disputes.
- Interdisciplinary Support – Working with financial advisors, child specialists, and therapists to create well-rounded solutions.
Practical Tips
Here are some specific ways to bring collaborative principles into your daily practice:
- When writing to the other side: Try to ignore any posturing in correspondence and focus on interest-based discussion. Avoid inflammatory language and instead steer communication toward solutions. Encouraging constructive, solutions-focused dialogue rather than inflammatory correspondence will go a long way toward focusing both parties on the task at hand.
- During negotiations: Encourage clients to think about their long-term goals rather than just immediate wins. Help them consider outcomes that work for all parties rather than getting stuck in a win-lose mentality. This means taking the time to explore underlying client interests rather than focusing solely on legal entitlements.
- Managing client expectations: Educate clients on the benefits of a more cooperative approach and help them reframe disputes as problems to be solved rather than battles to be won. Facilitate discussions that aim for durable, cooperative agreements rather than short-term wins.
- Using language carefully: The way you phrase legal arguments and settlement offers can have a big impact on how they are received. Avoid aggressive wording and instead use language that promotes resolution.
- Engaging with other professionals: When appropriate, bring in financial, child welfare, or mental health professionals to offer broader perspectives and practical solutions that extend beyond legal frameworks. Fostering professional relationships that allow for problem-solving rather than rigid adversarial roles is likely to be of huge assistance to the matter.
By integrating collaborative principles into everyday practice, Family Lawyers can create a more constructive, client-focused approach that ultimately leads to better long-term outcomes for separating families.
Furthermore, when practitioners shift their focus in this way, the relationships between colleagues and advocates are less strained, we would argue assisting with practitioner wellness as a whole. We could all do with a little more kindness in this business.
Whether or not you formally train in collaborative law, these skills can transform the way you work and help reduce the emotional toll on both clients and practitioners.
Even for those who are not collaboratively trained lawyers, incorporating collaborative principles into your daily practice can lead to better outcomes for your clients, reduce conflict, and improve professional relationships.
The Core Principles
Collaborative Practice is built on a few fundamental principles that can be integrated into any family law practice:
- Open and Honest Communication – Encouraging transparency and reducing adversarial tactics.
- Interest-Based Negotiation – Focusing on long-term needs rather than positional bargaining.
- Client Empowerment – Helping clients take an active role in negotiating and resolving their own disputes.
- Interdisciplinary Support – Working with financial advisors, child specialists, and therapists to create well-rounded solutions.
Practical Tips
Here are some specific ways to bring collaborative principles into your daily work:
- When writing to the other side: Try to ignore any posturing in correspondence and focus on interest-based discussion. Avoid inflammatory language and instead steer communication toward solutions. Encouraging constructive, solutions-focused dialogue rather than inflammatory correspondence will go a long way toward focusing both parties on the task at hand.
- During negotiations: Encourage clients to think about their long-term goals rather than just immediate wins. Help them consider outcomes that work for all parties rather than getting stuck in a win-lose mentality. This means taking the time to explore underlying client interests rather than focusing solely on legal entitlements.
- Managing client expectations: Educate clients on the benefits of a more cooperative approach and help them reframe disputes as problems to be solved rather than battles to be won. Facilitate discussions that aim for durable, cooperative agreements rather than short-term wins.
- Using language carefully: The way you phrase legal arguments and settlement offers can have a big impact on how they are received. Avoid aggressive wording and instead use language that promotes resolution.
- Engaging with other professionals: When appropriate, bring in financial, child welfare, or mental health professionals to offer broader perspectives and practical solutions that extend beyond legal frameworks. Fostering professional relationships that allow for problem-solving rather than rigid adversarial roles is likely to be of huge assistance to the matter.
By integrating collaborative principles into everyday practice, family lawyers can create a more constructive, client-focused approach that ultimately leads to better long-term outcomes for separating families.
Furthermore, when practitioners shift their focus in this way, the relationships between colleagues and advocates is less strained, we would argue assisting with practitioner wellness as a whole. We could all do with a little more kindness in this business.
Whether or not you formally train in collaborative law, these skills can transform the way you work and help reduce the emotional toll on both clients and practitioners.
