Sheri,
Thank you for your clear thoughts on the evolution of collaborative
practice. The more I practice in Collaborative Law, the more I am aware of
how much there is to learn. We have evolved to the point where experienced
Collaborative professionals are no longer content to simply relish in the
fact that what we are doing is much better than the adversarial system. We
must now turn to the responsibility of helping collaborative practice reach
its full potential. It is certainly possible that we are just begginning to
discover that potential. I look forward to seeing your article.
Ron Ousky
-----Original Message-----
From: Sherri Goren Slovin [mailto:sgslovin@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 12:41 PM
To: CollabLaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [CollabLaw] Holidays and Collaborative law
Harry- I am not sure seeing a number of difficult collaborative cases are a
function the holidays. It may be more the reality of what happens when the
number of collaborative cases grows.
I have been giving a lot of thought to this issue. We have been practicing
collaborative law in Cincinnati since 1997. Many of us have active practices
with a great number of cases. We have reached a real comfort level with the
concepts. Hundreds and hundreds of cases. That's a good thing. The real
issue is how to practice collaborative law well. .. and we are still working
on that.
While I believe that having trained coaches, child specialists and financial
planners can totally change a dynamic and be very helpful to reaching
resolutions, in many case there will likely not be any additional associated
professionals. My ruminations here concern the lawyer's role and the client
understanding of that role.
My sense is that there is an evolution that takes place when lawyers
practice collaborative law. We begin with lawyers trained to problem solve
in a highly adversarial system. In that system, the lawyer's goal is to get
the best deal for his or her client. It is a mistake to demonize that
system. It is what it is and it is where we start.
Training in Collaborative Law often comes in layers and usually begins with
a focus on the "paradigm shift." When lawyers are first exposed to "paradigm
shift" concepts, there is excitement at the idea of the empowered client,
and the lawyer's role in assisting the client to actualize that empowerment.
The next layer of training often focuses on understanding interest based
negotiation and the creation of a common choreography of negotiation.
Lawyers gravitate to the choreography, as there is a real comfort level in
replacing old rules with new protocols. This in essence, is the easy part.
It is covered by most basic two day trainings and in fact, is really all
that can be covered, as even this much is a lot to be absorbed.
The more difficult issues center around the definition of collaborative
negotiation, and whether the CLIENTS and the LAWYERS have a clear
understanding of the role of each in collaborative negotiation. It is here
that the "rubber meets the road," and it is here that I believe
collaborative lawyers have the most difficulty BY FAR.
We have to ask ourselves, when a client chooses collaborative law, what is
that client's expectation of us as his or her lawyer? They watch TV, they
watch movies. Have they ever seen a collaborative system? Do they fully
appreciate what it will feel like when their lawyer is having a meaningful
discussion in a four way with a spouse they detest? Do we do enough as
lawyers to clarify our role in the collaborative process? And if we don't,
could it be cause for difficulty?? And is it possible we don't because for
many lawyers, there is some level of discomfort with defining the
collaborative role itself?
How do we define the role? I have been influenced by Robert Mnookin's book
Beyond Winning, Negotiating to Create Values in Deals and Disputes. I
especially like the idea of our roles as "finding value-creating
opportunities when they exist, and resolving distributive issues efficiently
and as a shared problem."
How we go about doing that is in essence the crux of the lawyer's role. I am
working on an article that will discuss this in greater detail and welcome
the thoughts of the Listserve. We have a real responsibility to engage in a
dialogue that promotes clarity on this issue.
Just some thoughts on a snowy winter day. Happy Holidays to everyone!
Sherri
Sherri Goren Slovin
30 Garfield Place, Suite 920
Cincinnati, OH 45202
T: (513)241-9844
F: (513)241-9908
www.slovinlaw.com
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