Collaborative Practice is designed for various participants including...

People in Non-Family Law Dispute

Collaborative Practice is now a recognized interdisciplinary approach for family lawyers and their clients facing divorce.

And, as Collaborative Practice gains increasing community recognition, there is also a developing awareness of the suitability of this process to other practice areas.

For example, the incapacity or death of a loved one too often becomes a declaration of war among family members and others. Unfortunately, when probate disputes rise to a level of adversarial and positional litigation, they often result in staggering losses of family resources and relationships. Or as another example, conflicts between business interests are a fact of doing business. However, expensive, lengthy and often damaging litigation is not the only way of resolving disputes. Parties in business disputes can utilize the non-adversarial option of Collaborative Practice to better address their business interests and needs than may be possible in the traditional litigation process.

These areas are a natural focus for the rapid expansion of Collaborative Practice.

Each distinct area of practice requires the simultaneous development of the following elements:

• Adapting the Collaborative process for the specific practice area
• Training experienced professionals in the new approach
• Creating local legal communities in which to practice

Targeted members of the New York community are beginning to meet and address these formation issues. As this effort matures, NYACP will be ready to provide training and organizational support to these new areas of Collaborative Practice.