Massachusetts Collaborative Law

Expanding Collaborative Law:

Access to Collaboration for Low and Modest Means Clients

Access to Collaboration provides modest means, low bono and pro bono clients, with accessibility to Collaborative Practice.

There are Access to Collaboration programs around the world, and MCLC this year was one of the IACP Access to Collaborative grant recipients.

Opening the Collaborative Law doors to more clients means more cases for the experienced practitioner, more opportunities for cases for beginning Collaborative professionals and the potential for Court connected Collaborative programs.  This training will provide MCLC members with a broad overview of Access to Collaboration, help us think about ways to stretch our thinking and expand our skills to work with and meet the challenges involved with Access to Collaboration.  Time for discussion regarding the use of creativity and flexibility in supporting the continuing growth and development of Collaborative Law cases for our members will be included.

Topics to be covered include:

         ■  What is Access To Collaboration?

         ■  Access to Collaboration programs around the world-what

             they are, and how do they work?

         ■  What issues can you expect in modest means, low bono,

              and pro bono Collaborative cases?

         ■  What is included in the MCLC Grant, and MCLC efforts

              to create an Access to Collaboration Program including

              opportunities for MCLC members?

Produced with support from the IACP Access to Collaboration Grant

Speakers:

Gina Arons, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist with over 30 years experience working with adults, children, couples and families, practices in Lincoln, MA. She is a Collaborative Law coach-facilitator, mediator, and serves as a consultant to attorneys and their clients when complex emotional issues impede the legal process. Dr. Arons serves on the board of The Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council (MCLC) and is a member of The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) and The Massachusetts Council of Family Mediation(MCFM). Dr. Arons has presented workshops internationally on issues that impact the children of divorce, motherless-daughters, and many subjects related to Collaborative Law and the role of the family law neutral coach/facilitator.

Dawn Effron is a collaborative attorney and mediator focusing on family and workplace issues.  She teaches the skills that she applies in her practice at Northeastern University School of Law and New England Law | Boston, and in business settings. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council and as its Vice President of Education and Training. She also served as Co-Chair of the Boston Bar Association - Boston Municipal Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force, which operated a mediation program in Boston Municipal Court.

Justin L. Kelsey is a Mediator and Collaborative Divorce Attorney at Skylark Law & Mediation, P.C. in Framingham, Massachusetts.  He is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  Justin is on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council and the Massachusetts Council of Family Mediation, and is also on the Family Law Steering Committee of the Boston Bar Association.   Find out more at skylarklaw.com

Karen J. Levitt is the principal of the Levitt Law Group in Chelmsford, MA, where she concentrates in family law. She is a Collaborative Law attorney, mediator, and litigator as well as a guardian ad litem and parenting coordinator. Karen is one of the founders and a Past President of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council (MCLC).  Karen is on the Board of Directors of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), and is Chair of the IACP Access to Collaboration Task Force and Co-Chair of the IACP Trainers Network and Development Committee.  Karen also serves on the Massachusetts Trial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution.

Cost:   Thanks to the IACP Access to Collaboration grant, this program is free to MCLC members.