Question: What is collaborative law?
Answer: Collaborative law is a process whereby parties focus in on getting a negotiated settlement and each have their own lawyer but the understanding is that each lawyer is focused on reaching a settlement and cannot act further for the parties if proceedings do not result in a settlement and the parties have to go to court. In the collaborative process, the lawyers may engage another lawyer to mediate and may engage experts as required like valuators for land or other property or a counsellor or psychologist to deal with custody issues. Routinely, the parties share the costs of these expenses with the focus being to avoid court proceedings.