I was at a meeting this week where the results were presented and there were a few interesting surprises. I’ll try to briefly summarize the findings here.

When respondents were asked to give a freehand reason why they would choose Collaborative Law as a dispute resolution process, the leading reasons were saving time and saving money. When the respondents were asked to rank a list of ten potential benefits of the process, two of the options clearly were chosen head and shoulders above the rest.

They were “Preserving Key Relationships” and “Developing Creative Options”. While cost and control benefits were important, considerably more business owners saw the benefits of “relationships” and “options” as the most important factors in why they would choose Collaborative Law. To me these factors go back to the simple principles that I learned early on in my career. You don’t want to burn your bridges and creating a “bigger pie” makes everyone better off.

Simple principles, yet they often get lost or overlooked in traditional adversarial process. If you or your organization is in or facing a dispute and you’d like help in creating a “bigger pie” and saving a few bridges, consider Collaborative Law.

To learn more about how Collaborative Law can help you or your business, contact our office today.

During my career I often used outside counsel for matters involving a business I was involved in. I found that when you are primarily responsible for managing a business, it is often far better to focus on the management and let someone else focus on the lawyering.

In my own practice now I seek to provide the best service modeled on the “best practices” of the different attorneys I have worked with over the years. I clearly help a business owner define what are the legal issues in a matter and what are the business issues. As an attorney I can provide timely advice and assistance on the legal issues facing my client. To resolve the business issues, the client needs to weigh the goals and needs of the business against the matter at hand.

What makes me unique is that as a former business owner, I can often identify with the business issues facing my client. I’ve been a partner in a boot strap start up and I’ve been a company owner with over one hundred employees. That perspective provides a unique reservoir of experience to draw upon when requested by a client.

While I think the counselor at law description best describes my practice, to the client, the title really doesn’t matter. Personalized service delivered in a cost effective way are the focus of my practice and what leads to satisfied clients. If you need assistance from an attorney or counselor at law, contact our office today.

Often business owners and managers struggle with a customer or employee and their resistance. “Why don’t they get it?” From the perspective of the business owner or manager, the issue at hand couldn’t be any more clear. When there is an impasse breakthrough it is often the result of random luck rather than organized process.

During the presentation I referenced above, Kenneth Cloke made the simple but enlightening statement that “all resistance represents an unmet need.” When I sat with this for a while, it became clear that misunderstandings are often not the result of one side “not getting it” but more likely the other side not understanding the unmet need that drives the resistance at hand.

Mediators are trained to help parties understand not just what their positions are, but what underlying interests or needs push them in a particular direction. If your organization or business experiences regular resistance for which you have been unable to identify the unmet need, I’d be happy to work with you in reaching a better resolution.

To find out how mediation and collaborative law may be able to help your organization, contact our office today.

All of the collaborative professionals who were working at the booth had similar experiences. We were prepared to speak to those who inquired about the benefits of Collaborative Law. Confidentiality, cost effectiveness, convenience, where the negotiated agreement is the intended result.

Business owners immediately identified with the value of these benefits when compared to traditional resolution alternatives. This reaction bodes well for the growing Collaborative Law movement, but we clearly have more to do with regards to educating our potential clients as to its benefits and its availability.

If there is an event or group that you are aware of that would benefit from a presentation on Collaborative Law, please do not hesitate to contact me.

To find out how mediation and collaborative law may be able to help your organization, contact our office today.

I had the opportunity to attend various seminars which focussed on ADR and its impact on a variety of areas such as medical errors, insurance underwriting, and helping clients be better negotiators.

ADR often offers a more cost effective alternative to resolving a dispute when compared to traditional adversarial proceedings. What struck me as I attended the different sessions was the data that indicates that settlements reached through ADR often cost businesses less than what was experienced by companies prior to them engaging in ADR processes.

While additional research needs to be done, there is evidence that companies that take a proactive, ADR styled approach to dispute resolution may see their settlement costs decrease. These savings may be in addition to the money saved by pursuing ADR as opposed to traditional adversarial proceedings.

To find out how mediation and collaborative law may be able to help your organization, contact our office today.

If you own a business and have either employees or customers (check and check), you are likely at some point in your business life to be a party to a legal action. Thankfully, I only had to face that prospect a couple of times during my business career. Fortunately, both cases I recall came to a settlement, but not without considerable time and money being extended first.

I remember being concerned about the potential distraction to my management team and employees if a suit was long and protracted. The potential costs both monetarily and in loss productivity were very hard to define. Finally, I remember frustration at the loss of control over the situation.

Both mediation and the collaborative law process provide the parties a unique opportunity to be involved in the process. The parties are in fact an integral part of developing any settlement agreement that is reached. Convenience, cost control and confidentiality are also beneficial components to these resolution methods that are attractive to almost any business owner. I wish they had been available to me in the past!

To find out how mediation and collaborative law may be able to help your organization, contact our office today.

At times other collaboratively trained professionals might be brought in to assist the process. These may include financial advisors or business coaches. Collaborative Law is extremely effective when the parties wish to resolve their dispute in a way that is far more confidential than litigation in an open courtroom. It is also beneficial where continued relationships among the parties are either required or valuable to the parties.

Finally, where the parties have agreed to work together towards resolution, considerable financial savings over traditional litigation can be realized. For Collaborative Law to be most effective, it is helpful if the collaborative attorneys are involved as early in the dispute as possible.

To find out how collaborative law may be able to help your organization, contact our office today.

The mediator is not a fact finder, judge or arbiter. The mediator is present to manage the neutral process which enables the parties to move forward. The mediation process is voluntary and no party is “stuck” with an agreement that they do not support. Often, mediations can result in an agreement that takes into account interests that would have been disregarded in a traditional court proceeding.

Mutually satisfactory binding agreements crafted in a confidential, cost effective and convenient manner are the goal of mediation. To find out how the mediation process might benefit your business, contact our office today.