Frank Sprude - Attorney & Counselor

Frank is passionate about the new area of Collaborative Law and believes that this is a superior solution to divorce for most couples. Collaborative Law helps preserve the relationship between partners and children, minimizes expensive legal battles and ultimately reduces stress for all parties. After all, divorce is stressful enough.

Here's what you need to know about Collaborative Divorce before you read on:

• A collaborative divorce is a legally binding settlement entered by the court as a judgement, just like a traditional litigated divorce.
• Collaborative Divorce is an alternative dispute resolution method - you do not go to court or trial except to enter the final agreement.
  
• A Collaborative Divorce is typically one-third the cost of a traditional divorce - and  who ends up with the rewards?  Not the attorneys!
  
• Relationships with children, family and mutual friends can be preserved due to the cooperative nature of a Collaborative Divorce.  A divorce with dignity.

Collaborative Law is a new dispute resolution model in which both parties to the dispute retain separate, specially-trained lawyers whose only job is to help them settle the dispute. If the lawyers do not succeed in helping the clients resolve the problem, the lawyers are out of a job and can never represent either client against the other again. All participants agree to work together respectfully, honestly, and in good faith to try to find "win-win" solutions to the legitimate needs of both parties. No one may go to court, or even threaten to do so, and if that should occur, the Collaborative Law process terminates and both lawyers are disqualified from any further involvement in the case. Lawyers hired for a Collaborative Law representation can never under any circumstances go to court for the clients who retained them.

Collaborative Practice Advantages

It isn't for every client, but it is well worth considering if some or all of these are true for you:

• A civilized, respectful resolution of the issues.
• Preserves the possibility of friendship or a cordial relationship with your partner down the road.
• Allows you and your partner to co-parent children together rather than assign custody and visitation.
• Protects your children from the harm associated with litigated dispute-resolution between parents.
• Allows you and your partner continue to share your current circle of friends and extended family that you both want to remain connected to.
• Your personal affairs and the details of your family restructuring will not be available in the public court record.
• You maintain control and autonomous decision making and do not rely on a judge to make decisions about restructuring your financial and/or child-rearing arrangements
• The relationships that will exist in your restructured family situation are valued as much or more than obtaining the maximum possible amount of money in the settlement
• Involves achieving not only your own goals but finding a way to achieve the reasonable goals of the other person