Collaborative Family Law

Seattle Collaborative Family Law Attorneys

Magnuson Lowell family law attorneys are qualified to offer something new and exciting in the family law field: Collaborative family law. Collaborative family law is a non-litigation approach to resolving marital issues (such as dissolution of marriage, support, custody and other related marital subjects), whereby both attorneys and their respective clients engage in an uninhibited and open dialogue with each other, along with specialists (such as family or financial advisors), to develop a settlement that both husband and wife can embrace.

The primary work done by the qualified collaborative family law attorneys is to meet with their respective clients, either alone or along with the client's spouse and attorney, as well as with professional advisors engaged by the parties - all with the goal of fostering mutual agreement between the husband and wife determined by the various interests of the parties (rather than what the law affords). These agreements are client-driven, with the attorneys playing a supportive role to ensure that any agreement reached between the parties is what the parties want, rather than what the attorneys recommend or suggest. Ultimately, after an agreement is reached, both husband and wife will have been informed of the law that covers their respective rights and obligations; but experience has demonstrated that a practical agreement, worked out by the soon-to-be-ex-spouses, is more effective, more lasting, and more important to the spouses, than getting what the law may dictate.

The advantages to a collaborative process are numerous, including the following:

• On average, the final cost to each client has been demonstrated to be less than the cost by using the traditional approach through litigation, even after factoring in the cost of engaging specialists to act in advisory roles. This is due to the fact that the attorneys do not accumulate fees for costly litigation.
• The client takes charge of his or her own settlement, making decisions along the way. The result is a client who is more knowledgeable of the factors entering into a divorce settlement, and a client who is more prepared to address various post-dissolution matters.
• The client ultimately leaves the process with a settlement with confidence that the agreement is in his/her best interests, without remorse over the attorney's role, and without the adverse emotional issues that are normally encountered in a traditional litigation model. Such concerns often arise in a traditional litigation setting, where a court makes a final award (that typically is not tailored for the parties) or a mediator recommends a settlement which the parties feel is forced upon them.
• The parties essentially determine the outcome of their dispute, with their respective attorneys guiding the process and working to ensure that the final settlement meets the client's stated interests without disrupting the settlement process.

Should the collaborative law process break down, both attorneys and all advisors must withdraw, and the clients will then be referred to new counsel to complete the process, returning to the traditional litigation setting. Although this rarely happens when both parties are represented by attorneys who skillfully guide their clients through the collaborative law process, even if the process does break down, most likely agreement will have been reached by the parties on many issues, and this will reduce the amount of litigation that may ensue.

Contact our offices in Redmond, Washington, for a free telephone conversation about your family law matter today. Or click here for more details about the collaborative law process. We provide the legal services you need, for the life you lead.