Well, we did it. Bruce and I taught our workshop on informed consent at the annual Forum for the International Academy of Collaborative Practice. It was Sunday morning, the last workshops of the Forum, and we had six attendees. Our room could only hold fifteen, and even the bigger rooms that could hold fifty or more only had twenty one people. So, I think we did well. As usually happens, you learn something from every seminar you teach, and Sunday was no exception. When we asked our learners what they took away from the seminar, a lawyer from Canada said that she realized that although she routinely obtains informed consent from clients for the collaborative process, she hasn't really ever obtained the same for litigation. A light bulb moment for her, and for us. Even though I've always said that litigators never obtain informed consent to litigate, I was amazed that it was the take away piece at the IACP Forum, the annual conference for collaborative practice. What an unintended consequence. What we're about as collaborative practitioners is to help our clients make informed choices, both for their lives in the future and for the process used to get them there, so unintended or not, I'm thrilled with the result of our workshop. If more clients knew about the advantages and disadvantages of litigation, more clients would choose mediation or collaboration instead and retain control over their family's future.
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