Let's Look Out For Each Other, Shall We?

When people ask me how long I've been practicing collaborative divorce, my answer is 20 years.  That's how long I've been practicing exclusively in the area of family law.  I say that, not in the sense of the relatively new dispute resolution mechanism, but in the more general and commonly understood sense.  In my office, a problem shared is a problem on its way to being solved.  The only way that can happen is if everyone is working toward the same goal.  That goal may be resolving the issues around the end of a marriage or deciding on a parenting plan for the children.  It may be learning to communicate effectively with others.  It may be healing.  The point is that the goal could be anything.  Everyone involved has to be committed to reaching it.  That is the point.  We work as a team because we want the same things.  We each do our jobs and work to our strengths to reach the goal.  Sometimes the team is the client and the attorney.  Sometimes it's two attorneys and two clients.  Sometimes the team involves a mediator, a broker or a coach. Sometimes it is a full collaborative team.  What the team looks like doesn't really matter, so long as everyone acts like a team and shares the vision.  Then everyone is free to problem solve and reality check because it's safe and supported.  We get some of our best ideas and most creative solutions that way.  Why would anyone with a problem settle for anything less?  Here in the Trenches.