Collaborative family lawyers do much more than protect your legal rights. They are family separation experts. Here is how a collaborative lawyer can help you:
Collaboration Is Focused on Win-Win
Collaborative family lawyers are not opponents who use the court system to “beat” the other side. Since the lawyers are not preparing for litigation, there is no incentive for power plays or posturing. Instead, collaborative lawyers actively promote communication, trust and resolution between both parties and in the best interests of the entire family.
Here’s proof: Your collaborative lawyer can only work on your behalf so long as you continue to participate in the collaborative process. If negotiations between you and your separating partner meet an impasse, and one or both of you choose to go to court instead, your collaborative lawyers must remove themselves. In other words, if you and your separating partner go to court, you must do so without your collaborative lawyers.
Legal Know-How for Every Situation
No matter if your situation is straightforward or complex, a collaborative lawyer can use his or her legal expertise to help you at every stage of the collaborative process.
Collaborative lawyers:
- have knowledge about family law, real estate law, estate law, and tax law
- collect information on the family’s needs and financial situation
- help develop and evaluate options available within the legal system
- provide advice on legal rights, entitlements and obligations
- act as a communication or negotiation coach to make sure your voice is heard
- negotiate with your partner and his/her legal counsel to explore settlement options
As legal experts, our role is to work with you to keep their goals realistic and the process beneficial to everyone involved, including the family. We do not tell clients what they should want, but we can advise whether those needs are reasonable and lawful.
Collaborative family lawyers in Ottawa
We Can Refer You to Other Services
Not all your questions and concerns will be specific to family law. Well-aligned with the spirit of collaboration, our network includes:
Financial experts with various certifications, qualifications and specialties
We Understand the Human Side of Separation
We are advocates, not adversaries. We focus on conversation instead of argument. As collaboratively-trained lawyers, we promote a cooperative process between everyone involved in the collaborative process as we consider all available options.
We understand how human nature can affect the negotiation process. As a result, we have proven processes that can help both separating partners achieve consensus. That’s what makes us family separation agreement experts.
We Navigate, You Drive
In the journey to establishing a final agreement, you’re in the driver’s seat and we’re right beside you working the GPS.
We have seen the blind spots and the detours in the family separation journey many times. Our expertise in collaborative practice means we can help you go where you want to go, change directions if we find a better way, and help you get there safely, quickly and comfortably.
We can also help couples who have gone the traditional court route and have stalled or are otherwise dissatisfied with the proceedings. As collaborative lawyers, we can help to overcome and resolve the obstacles by applying existing family law, precedents, and our own professional experience to your situation. We know the law, and we know the legal solutions and options that can work for you.
Collaborative lawyers are an integral part of the team that is working toward a stable, equitable and legal agreement.
Find a collaborative professional in Ottawa