The Future of Collaborative Law

 In a word, the future of Collaborative Law is limitless.  It has long since spread from the realm of family law to those of estates and environmental law.[1]  William Potapchuk cites many examples where collaborative approaches have resulted in solutions to many community conflicts, including the revitalized waterfront and eco-strategies in Chattanooga and southeastern Oregon’s Applegate Partnership.[2]  See also the Public Lands Partnership in Colorado.[3]  Tom Arnold is a 30-year veteran of civil litigation in Houston, Texas, who now advocates the use of Collaborative Law even in the resolution of complex commercial cases.[4] 

Conclusion 

Collaborative Law is an idea whose time has come.  It won’t be appropriate for every case, but it will for many. 

In the words of Bob Dylan,  “The times, they are a-changing.” 

Additional Reading 

And Never the Twain Shall Meet:  The Best Interests of Children and the Adversary System, J. Weinstein, 52 U. Miami Law Rev. 79, (1997)

 Stu Webb, Collaborative Law – A Conversation:  Why Aren’t Those Lawyers Going to Court? The Hennepin Lawyer, July-August 1996, at 30-32

 Collaborative Law: What It Is and Why Family Law Attorneys Need to Know About It, Pauline H. Tesler, American Journal of Family Law, Vol. 13, No. 4, Winter, 1999 p. 215ff

 The Collaborative Quarterly, Journal of the American Institute of Collaborative Professionals, c/o Tesler, Sandman & Fishman, 16 Buena Vista Ave. Mill Valley, CA 94941 USA


[1] Chip Rose, Mount Royal College ibid

[2] Moving From Collaborative Processes To Collaborative Communities:  Building Our Agenda, http://www.conflict-resolution.net/articles/collabcomm.cfm.  

[3] Compromise on Land Issues Holds Both Threat and Promise in West, Jim Nesbitt,  http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1a090800.html

[4]Collaborative Dispute Resolution:  An idea whose time has come, http://www.conflict-resolution.net/articles/Arnold.cfm