Collaborative Family Law "CFL" is a very different way of assisting families through their separation which is an extraordinarily difficult time for spouses and their children.

Each client has a lawyer who has been specially trained in collaborative practice. It requires that we, as lawyers shift our focus from being adversarial (how much can I ‘win’ for my client) to what solutions can we come up with which will best meet the interests of our clients and their children in a way that is caring and respectful.

Everyone involved in the process is committed to resolving all of the issues of the clients and their children out of court. We all sign an agreement at the beginning saying that we will not go to court and that if one of the clients decides to do so – as collaborative lawyers we will not be going with them

We work in a non-adversarial manner with our clients so that it decreases the huge time, the financial cost and the emotional toll which court proceeding take. It is also a very ‘private’ process, in that none of the discussions or solutions are open to the public, unlike court adjudication where all of the documents are open to the public, including the press.

I often tell my clients that choosing this process is probably the very best gift that they will ever give their children. They will be modeling for them a way of resolving disputes/ conflicts in a respectful creative way – a way that does not promote a win / lose solution – so to speak – but in a way that meets everyone’s interests

We assist our clients to resolve their issues in 4 way meetings by focusing on their interests / really getting to the root of them and equally importantly, the interests of their children in a dignified, creative and resourceful way.

In other words we all, lawyers and clients, work hard to figure out what will best serve the needs of the clients and their children as a separating family unit.

We use the expertise of other professionals where it makes sense to do so– such as parenting co-coordinators and so on.

Do we talk about the law? – yes – you might well hear one of the lawyers say – well the ‘legal box’ would have the ’ this’ to say about this issue – but you are free to be as creative/ practical etc as you like to resolve your issue to fit you and your children.

Please go to the links for the Collaborative Practice - Toronto and the York Collaborative Practice for further information.