The general principle of Collaborative Law is that it is in the best interests of the Parties and the children to commit to settling all the issues and avoid Court.  Each Party retains his or her own attorney. 

At the beginning of the case, the Parties agree to the process and agree that if they are unable to settle their disagreements and choose to go to Court, the Parties will need to retain new attorneys.  In the Collaborative process, the attorneys advise and assist the Parties in negotiating an agreement on all issues. Once the Parties have reached an agreement, the Parties' agreements are presented to the Court to be adopted as an Order of the Court.  Collaborative Law is done at our hourly rate and regular retainer.     

Despite its advantages, there may be some ethical problems that are problematic with collaborative law.  On February 24, 2007, the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee issued Formal Ethics Opinion 115, which is advisory only, that the practice of Collaborative Law violates Rule 1.7(b) of Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct insofar as a lawyer participating in the process enters into a contractual agreement with the opposing party requiring the lawyer to withdraw in the event that the process is unsuccessful. The Committee also concluded that pursuant to Colo.RPC 1.7(c) the client’s consent to waive this conflict cannot be validly obtained.

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