Massachusetts Collaborative Law

Dear Members of the mediation/collaborative community:

As many of you know, I am in the end stages of what has been a fairly lengthy experience with Prostate Cancer. I had originally considered describing it as a battle, but that terminology is certainly not appropriate in this community and frankly I cringe when I hear that said about anyone who dies of Cancer. Because the implication is that if you succumb to that disease, you are a loser who did not have sufficient strength or toughness to prevail. Now where have we all encountered that kind of language in our professional lives?

The Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council (MCLC) joined forces and resources with the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation (MCFM) and the Academy of Professional Family Mediators (APFM) to hire Dr. David Campt of The Dialogue Company and Matthew Freeman, co-author with Tiffany Jana of “Overcoming Bias”, to assist our organizations with education on unconscious bias and how it impacts the diversity and equity in our dispute resolution community. Dr. Camp and Mr. Freeman, working with our organizations' leaders designed a 4-part series...

When a former family law colleague of mine told me about Collaborative Law Process sometime around 2008, conceptually it sounded much like a series of traditional four-way meetings, but with a therapist present. As a fledgling dispute resolution process, I saw no harm in adding this skill set to my professional tool kit to bolster the transition of my practice out of litigation and into dispute resolution...

Dear Collaborative Community,

We are deeply saddened and angered as we reflect on the recent tragic incidents of violence targeted against people of color.

As a community of peace builders and promoters of justice through dispute resolution, we strive to foster the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusivity. We challenge our membership and the community at large to be vigilant and intentional in creating and embracing these principles...

Building on my prior post about a first, completed virtual divorce case, Part Two, will outline solutions used to address these and includes further thinking on how to effectively practice collaborative divorce, virtually. Please note: These solutions can be applied to virtual divorce mediation as well...

While over the years I have facilitated many collaborative cases in-person, only recently have I completed my first virtual, collaborative divorce. Under the very best of circumstances, this would have been a highly challenging collaborative undertaking. The necessity to shift from an in-person to a virtual process added a new layer of...

by Justin Kelsey, Past President of MCLC.

If you have a court hearing scheduled in the next few weeks, most likely you've been told it's postponed. While some hearings will be scheduled telephonically and by video conference, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely causing significant delays in obtaining a hearing and an order or judgment...

by Justin Kelsey, Past President of MCLC.

In May of 2014, I attended the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council's day long Advanced Training Forum. The attendees included lawyers, coach/facilitators, mental health practitioners, financial neutrals and other professionals who help divorcing couples. There were the usual discussions about finding better ways to help our clients divorce, finding more clients, and finding other professionals willing to practice collaboratively. And there was also singing..

by Debra L. Smith, Member of Board of Directors of MCLC

Consider this Scenario: You thought the marriage to the love of your life was going to be forever. After his six month affair with the attractive woman from his department at the ad agency he works for, you just don’t trust him anymore as your husband. You met at...

by Jeff Fink, Past President of MCLC

We don’t always think about ethics in our daily lives. Many lawyers remember legal ethics as one of the less interesting topics on the bar exam.

In the Collaborative process, though, ethics are important. They mean “doing the right thing” in the situation. They mean always asking ourselves, “Am I being Collaborative? Is what I am doing now Collaborative?”