I have used OFW as a parenting coordinator with very high conflict
couples and have also built it into a number of agreements. It can be a
very valuable tool, but a warning: the program itself leaves a lot to be
desired. It is clunky and far from perfect. On the plus side, they are
eager to please when problems arise. They expect a major overhaul at the
beginning of next year. Can't come too soon for me!
Regards,
Sherri
Sherri Goren Slovin
30 Garfield Place, Suite 920
Cincinnati, OH 45202
www.slovinlaw.com
This message may include privileged attorney-client communications. If
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-----Original Message-----
From: CollabLaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:CollabLaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John Crouch
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 6:45 PM
To: CollabLaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [CollabLaw] online parenting communication
site
One of our leading local family law firms invited me and
some other lawyers
to a presentation about ourfamilywizard.com the other
day. It was by Bryan
Altman, one of the founders of the company. His friend,
the leading founder
of the company, was inspired by his mother's work as a
family lawyer and
another close family member's chronically difficult
visitation situation.
[If these facts are not quite right that's my fault, not
his.]
These people seem to know what they're doing. Their
concerns, policies,
products, and decisions seem to be based on the same
realities that we as
family lawyers are familiar with. The lawyers at the
meeting all sounded
favorable -- our only serious concerns were with
confidentiality and
security, and we were satisfied with the responses.
The web site, as demonstrated to us, looks very useful
and versatile while
being kept as simple as possible. It offers calendaring,
expense logging,
and sharing of all kinds of information about the
children between the
parents (and sometimes other professionals such as GALs
or therapists). When
parents want to ask each other for one-time changes in
the visitation
schedule, or similar, they do it via their own private
message boards on the
web site. Apparently its use is mandated for parents
with custody/visitation
cases in some counties near Minneapolis.
It works with dialup but is much faster with high-speed.
It seems like a great thing, though I wouldn't be out
there trying to force
people to use it, unless they had visitation
communication problems. One
challenge is the same one faced by collaborative
practice -- how can one
"side" suggest it to the other in a way that will be
well received?
-- John Crouch
Arlington, Virginia
703-528-6700
crouch@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:crouch%40patriot.net>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
