How did Collaborative Law start?
The founder of the collaborative law process is a lawyer from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Stu Webb.   He had been practising law for over twenty years, mostly in the area of family law but was becoming very dissatisfied with the outcomes of the adversarial nature of litigation and by the reaction of his clients to the litigation process.  He believed that most people really don’t want to go to court to solve their problems but didn’t know any other way to deal with their conflict. 

He developed a system for resolving conflict which is now called the collaborative process.  In this process, a contract is signed by both the lawyers and the parties agreeing specifically not to go to court.  The parties and the lawyers agree to follow principles of honesty, compromise, cooperation, moderation, integrity and professionalism.  The parties and the lawyers work together in meetings to reach an agreement that best meets the needs of the parties.

Why use Collaborative Law?