If you’ve read this far on my web-site, you know I’m a Divorce Attorney and Family Lawyer in DuPage, Kane and Kendall Counties, Illinois.  I prefer to litigate divorce issues as a last approach.

Everyone knows someone who suffered during a brutal and nasty divorce case.  Divorce doesn’t have to result in legal bloodshed which depletes the marital estate.  There are alternatives to formal, adversarial litigation.

In the past decade or so alternative approaches to litigation have emerged.  Primarily, the use of the collaborative approach to resolving divorces has grown exponentially.  Now, a new approach is slowly gaining momentum: The cooperative approach.

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

In cases which are appropriate for the collaborative approach to divorce resolution, each party retains an attorney who has been trained in the collaborative method.  Through a series of 4 way conferences (you, your attorney, your spouse and their attorney) determine the assets and liabilities of the marital estate, determine each parties’ need, and the parties, with the assistance of their attorneys, craft their own, specifically tuned divorce settlement.  Sometimes the collaborative approach doesn’t work and formal litigation results.

If one of the parties decides that the collaborative approach isn’t working, or if formal pleadings are filed with the court while the parties are engage in the collaborative process, both parties’ attorneys are discharged and the parties have to retain new counsel.  The case starts from square 1 and all the effort, cost and progress achieved through the collaborative approach is lost.  Plus, the #1 attorney of your choosing is now precluded from representing you in court.  Recognizing these issues as major stumbling blocks to the collaborative approach, a new, more effective approach is emerging: Cooperative Law.

COOPERATIVE LAW

Similar to the collaborative law approach, both parties retain counsel trained to approach their case in an amicable manner.  The case progresses in a series of 4-way conferences and ultimately an agreement is reached based on the parties needs.  Like the collaborative approach, the parties, not some whimsical judge, determine the outcome of their case.  The divorce laws of Illinois still control, but with the assistance of their attorneys, the parties can sculpt a more reasonable and sustainable outcome.

Unlike the collaborative approach, if progress towards resolution stagnates, or if one party determines formal litigation must be initiated, neither party has to discharge their counsel.  The flow from cooperatively resolving issues to litigation is seemless.  The time, cost and progress towards resolution isn’t lost.  This ultimately results in lower costs to the client, shorter time from initiation to completion, and better results for clients.

If you’re interested or curious about obtaining a divorce, why not talk to your prospective attorney about alternatives to formal litigation.  I am a trained collaborative lawyer as well as one who advocates and practices the cooperative approach.

Call me: 630.409.8184.

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