The New British Columbia Family Law Act

The law in British Columbia about how family law issues are resolved is about to drastically change.  The new Family Law Act comes into force in March 2013.  Starting in March 2013, family lawyers will be called “Family Dispute Resolution Professionals” or FDR Professionals.   Other professionals, such as counsellors, can also be FDR Professionals under the new legislation, and thereby take on a role in the dispute resolution process formerly occupied only by lawyers.  The new Family Law Act actually spells out that “Resolution Out of Court is Preferred”! Lawyers will be obligated to set out to the client the alternatives to going to court, and what resources are available to the client locally, and then to provide a Certificate showing that he or she has so advised the client, before that lawyer can commence a court action for that client. The new Family Law Act codifies many of the principles of collaborative practice as set out by the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.  This is a giant leap in the right direction to protect children of uncoupling parents from harm, and to encourage and foster peace and understanding between uncoupling parties.  This legislation is in stark contrast to the current common practice of going to court to have each party attempt to prove the other wrong.  The new Family Law Act recognizes that often the non-legal issues, that is, the emotions or psychological issues, are really fueling the dispute, not the legal issues.  Best of all, the new Family Law Act encourages a team approach to dispute resolution in family law cases in British Columbia.  Halleluiah.  This has been a long time coming.  I look forward to seeing how this huge change in British Columbia family law is going to play itself out.  

New British Columbia Collaborative Professionals Roster Website

Finally, there is a website in British Columbia where you can locate experienced, well respected collaborative professionals!  On May 10, 2012 I went to Vancouver for the party to launch the new website which can be found at www.bccollaborativerostersociety.com .  If you are looking to engage a collaborative professional, you probably want the services of a professional who is experienced, rather than a rookie.  Now the task of finding an experienced collaborative professional in British Columbia has become easy.  To be a  member of the Collaborative Roster Society of British Columbia, a lawyer must have conducted several collaborative cases and be recommended by peers.  I love collaborating with my colleagues rather than working against them!

Calling Collaborative Lawyers to the Kootenays

Today, I found myself wondering, as I often do, why there are no other collaborative lawyers besides me living in the East or West Kootenays. I am passionate about collaborative practice. So far, in the West Kootenay about 100 couples have used the collaborative way to resolve their legal issues at Resolution Place. I am involved with the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. But I can’t offer collaborative practice to my home community by myself. The process requires each party to have their own collaborative lawyer. So, we import Vancouver lawyer, Danny Zack, here to Nelson to work on almost every collaborative case we have in the Kootenays.

Not every lawyer is suitable to be a collaborative lawyer. As a lawyer, I must absolutely trust the collaborative lawyer with whom I sign a Participation Agreement. Danny’s the best. I love working with Danny, who has been practising law for about 40 years. Danny is considered by many to be the British Columbia guru of collaborative practice. I am grateful to have the opportunity to hone my collaborative legal skills on every case I work on here in Nelson, by working with Danny, who perhaps is the most experienced collaborative lawyer in British Columbia.

Together Danny and I work, in every collaborative case, to create a safe place where our clients can negotiate their legal issues. With Danny, it is easy to help our clients find that safe zone. It is an honour and a pleasure to work with Danny. But, it would be more convenient and less expensive for our clients if there were other collaborative lawyers resident here in the Nelson area.

I have been offering collaborative practise through my Nelson law firm for almost 10 years now. Where are you other collaborative lawyers? Working in a collaborative way with my learned friends is so much more satisfying than working against them through litigation.

Collaborative practice is a better way to practise law. It’s easier on the lawyer’s health. Perhaps, part of the reason for the absence of other collaborative lawyers around here is that there is an overall shortage of lawyers in rural British Columbia, period. That’s why the CBA has the R.E.A.L program, where several rural lawyers are paid each summer to employ a third year law student with the hopes that student will see the obvious merits of practising law in a rural community, and return to work after completing law school. Rural lawyers’ plates are full, why would they want to stop work to retrain as collaborative lawyers?

Maybe it’s because collaborative practice is, after all, contrary to what we lawyers learn at law school, which is to “position” our clients. Danny and I work hard together at helping our clients avoid getting entrenched in positions, and instead to focus on creating solution options that try to meet the needs, values and interest of each person affected by the decisions being made.

Are there any good collaborative lawyers out there who would love to have a rewarding and interesting career as a collaborative lawyer here in Nelson, British Columbia, the Queen City of the Kootenays, surely one of the most beautiful places on earth? Your fascinating and rewarding collaborative law practice may be waiting for you here on the shores of Kootenay Lake. Come co-mediate with me.

Namaste

Susan Kurtz

Collaborative Lawyer Nelson, BC

Why Practice Collaborative Law?

I was recently asked why a lawyer would choose to practice collaborative law. I cannot speak for all collaborative lawyers, but I can tell you about my own experience. When I was in law school, I had no idea of the lack of job satisfaction I would encounter in the practice of law. But, well into my legal career, after a hard-fought win in the Supreme Court of British Columbia or the Queen's Bench in Calgary, I found myself plunging into despair. By the time I reached the women lawyers Barrister's Room from the courtroom, before I had even removed my gown, any elation at proving my case and doing a good job, had evaporated. And this was after a win. On the days that I didn't win, it was even worse. To be a party to a courtroom blood bath where there are no winners, where each party is bankrupt, financially and emotionally and physically, gave me no job satisfaction. For the first 15 years of my life as a lawyer, I often found myself sitting across the desk from people who were at their worst hour, feeling like I had nothing to offer but poison. This was especially the case after 1993 when I moved to Nelson BC and began to practice more family law. These legal battles often took years. Often, beaten down and feeling that I had to quit the practice of law, I sought out mentors who encouraged me to battle it out, who told me that my presence was necessary in the courtroom, that change is always difficult, that my voice was important on the front. But I felt like a fish out of water in the courtroom, despite my appearance, all dressed and ready for the performance. I am a yogi. I believe in contributing to the strength and wellness of my community. The microcosm of Nelson accentuated even more the harmful effects of litigation on the community than had been apparent in the big city. The purpose of a judge is to decide who is right and who is wrong; who wins and who loses; who is at fault and who is not. Lawyers are trained to "position" their clients into the best position they could expect a judge to determine on a good day in court, and then drive their clients to those positions. From the outset, a lawyer is gathering information from you to prove your case. This is becasue the lawyer thinks his or her job is to prove you are right. However, I have never felt that my job as a lawyer was to prove that you are right. My motto has been, do you want to be happy or do you want to be right? I have always felt that my job was to help you come to a resolution of your legal issues. Our court system is about proving who is right. In marriage uncoupling, great emotional or psychological issues arise, but the legal issues are the same for everyone, and there are only two legal issues: children and money. Forcing couples to take the question of children and property division into a courtroom, where the game is to prove who is right and who is wrong, is a travesty. This is more glaringly obvious if the couple has children, for the court system forces the parents to prove the other wrong in order to resolve the legal issues of developing a parenting plan and figuring out child support. This blows the ability of the parents to effectively co-parent into the future out of the water. This, in turn, causes our whole society to become weak since there is ample research to show that children who are products of an acrimonious parental uncoupling are likely to suffer great handicaps as adults (The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, by Judith Wallerstein). Personally, I suffered with the decision to stay or not to stay in law. I am not alone in this. The Lawyer's Assistance Program of BC offers regular seminars on "What to do with your Law Degree Other than Practice Law". There are many depressed lawyers out there. And no wonder. You would be depressed too if you had to spend all of your time on a battlefield or making the ammunition to harm children in your own community.

So, when the concept of Collaborative Practice crossed my path one day in 2002, I grasped on to it like the saver it is. I have been dedicated to bringing collaborative practice to my home community ever since. I am a very active member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and I frequently work with members of the Collaborative Law Group of Vancouver. There are no other practicing collaborative lawyers in the East or West Kootenays, although I have not given up attempting to bring them into the fold. There are so few lawyers in the rural areas of BC that the lawyers have more work than they can handle. They don't want to get retrained to do something else. So I continue to communicate with lawyers throughout BC and Alberta, and the law schools, too, about the benefits of developing a collaborative practice. Collaborative lawyers come from the Okanagan and Vancouver to work on a team with me here in Nelson. As a collaborative lawyer, I feel that I am a healer instead of a harmer. I see my job as taking the hand of my uncoupling client and helping him or her cross treacherous waters to the other shore, I place the person on solid ground so he or she gains traction to move forward in life. It doesn't matter whether he or she knows how dangerous and treacherous the waters are - it is enough that I have the experience to know the dangerous territory through which we pass together. In a collaborative practice, I have the opportunity to hold a sacred safe space in my office, a place for the couple to communicate, to forgive, to end conflict despite emotional turmoil. I give a workshop at the local college entitled "Spiritual Divorce" in which I invite couples to explore the law of forgiveness, the law of surrender and the law of acceptance while they are exploring the laws of family property division and child support. I love working on a team with the other professionals - lawyers, child specialists, psychologists and financial planners. I love combining my legal education and experience with my colleague from the outset of a case for the mutual benefit of our clients, instead of paring my great skill against my learned friend's expertise. My office staff suggest to a new caller that he or she bring in the spouse for the initial interview so that they both learn the four routes to a Separation Agreement and the likely time and costs of each route before either takes any action. Most lawyers won't see a couple together because of a perceived conflict of interest. However, I am not giving advice at these initial consultations, but rather, I am giving information so I do not place myself in a conflict of interest, I do not gather "evidence" from either spouse at the initial consultation. After these initial interviews, the couple is often very grateful and I frequently get told "Thank you so much, Susan. I feel so much better now that I have this information. I can see there is a way out." Hearing this makes me feel useful. Being a collaborative lawyer makes me a beneficial contributing member of my community and a better person. These are some of the reasons why I choose to practice collaborative law.

Lawyer Jokes

As a lawyer, I have experienced being shunned. When I was a litigator, I would sometimes walk into a social setting, like a grocery store or a beach, and whispers would start as some people followed me with their eyes, not in a good way. Invitations to dinner parties were sometimes revoked when the hostess learned that I am a lawyer who acted for "someone's ex". Even though I understand the principle of transference, my feelings still were hurt when I was shunned for being a litigation lawyer. After all, part of my job was trying to prove my client was right, and that necessitated trying to prove someone else was wrong. I did not like that part of my job. Nowadays, as a collaborative lawyer, I work with the other lawyer, not against that lawyer. We work together as a team for the mutual benefit of our clients. It's a win-win situation all the way around. And I no longer feel shunned in my home town just for being a lawyer. As a collaborative lawyer, I have the opportunity to spread peace and goodwill instead of flaming blame and fault. I promote forgiveness as a pathway to peace. In my small way, I can make this a better world.

Creative Solutions in the New Economy

One of the main reasons a couple may remain under the same roof even in the unhappy situation where they agree their relationship as a couple is over, is because of the cost of physically separating. How can the couple contemplate existing under two household roofs while still earning the same family income? And in our new economy, how can the couple separate when the main family asset – the family home – is not likely to sell in the foreseeable future due to the quiet real estate market we are experiencing? The influences and effects of the new economy show even more vividly why the collaborative legal process is so attractive to separating couples over the court option. A judge’s hands are tied with respect to applying creative solutions. The courtroom is a place of blunt, inflexible justice, to be sought only when the parties in dispute have exhausted all other means of resolving the differences between them. But in the collaborative process, the parties are free to explore every possible solution that arises through the process, since the parties have opted out of the requirement of applying the strict law to the issues arising from their uncoupling. Now, more than ever, we need creative solutions to dispute resolution. The time for change is here.

A Marathon Collaborative Success Story

Lawyers Danny Zack and Susan Kurtz of the Collaborative Law Group of the Kootenays www.nocourt.ca are relaxing into the thrill of feeling a job well done. Together they recently assisted a couple to a resolution of all legal issues arising from the breakdown of their marriage, while at the same time, protecting the child from negative effects of the separation, in a marathon collaborative process that took 3 days. Six weeks ago, Danny and Susan agreed to attempt to help these opposing parties come to a resolution in a compressed period of time. The couple had been married for 15 years and the legal issues they faced as a result of uncoupling were not simple. The case involved children, spousal support and property division. One parent wanted to relocate from the Kootenays to Calgary with the children. The other parent was strongly opposed to the idea. One parent wanted spousal support and the other parent did not want to contribute to a perceived voluntary state of unemployment.

Danny Zack flew from his office in Vancouver to Castlegar on a Wednesday to assist this Kootenay couple in a team that included Nelson collaborative lawyer, Susan Kurtz. The first 4-way meeting took place on Wednesday afternoon. After a one hour supper break, the collaborative process resumed on Wednesday evening. The parties and lawyers reconvened on Thursday and Friday for more collaborative sessions. The parties reached mutually agreeable resolutions on all legal issues by Friday. Lawyer Susan Kurtz drafted the Agreement on Friday and the lawyers met on Saturday morning to make revisions to the draft Agreement. On Saturday, the parties signed the formal Separation Agreement, and thereby legal issues from the uncoupling were resolved.

The whole exercise cost each party a fraction of the legal fees it would have cost to resolve these legal issues through the court process. But even better, both parents report that their ability to effectively communicate with each other about their children noticeably improved within 24 hours of reaching a final settlement. Says he, “We haven’t been able to talk like this in a few years. It’s a miracle. I know I made the right choice when I retained a lawyer with the Collaborative Law Group of the Kootenays.”

CBC Films Reality TV Collaborative Divorce

Don’t miss the film “How to Divorce and Not Wreck the Kids” scheduled to be aired on CBC on January 9, 2009. Danny Zack, a lawyer member of our Collaborative Law Group of the Kootenays, is one of two lawyers featured in a divorce done the collaborative way on camera. The case involved a couple named Lionel and Sally from Vancouver Island who agreed to be filmed. The case involved a 17 year marriage and 2 children. The producer of this documentary says this: Parents contemplating divorce are barraged with “divorce from hell” stories – the kind that leave children scarred for life. But there is another reality. Grass roots Canadians are at the heart of a quiet revolution – couples working on “good” divorces, which acknowledge that the end of a marriage isn’t the end of a family. How to Divorce and Not Wreck the Kids takes viewers directly into the heart of one of the most emotionally devastating life transitions, as three courageous Canadian couples determined to keep the needs of their children front and centre, separate on camera. Roland and Carolyne use a do-it-yourself divorce kit. Mike and Melissa work with a mediator. And Lionel and Sally use a new and controversial process called collaborative divorce. How to Divorce and Not Wreck the Kids offers the latest compelling evidence to convince separating parents to keep conflict away from their kids.

How to Divorce and Not Wreck the Kids airs on CBC Television Thursday January 8th at 9pm.

Collaborative Divorce

The primary goal of the Collaborative Family Law process is to settle unresolved issues involved in a separation and divorce in a non-adversarial manner. This method of dispute resolution is a relatively new option for separating couples. It began in the United States in the early 1990s and first became available in Vancouver in 1999.

There are now over 200 practice groups in a growing list of countries which includes England, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, and, of course, the United States and Canada. An international organization was founded over six years ago and is known as The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. That organization includes lawyers, health care professionals and financial specialists.

At the 7th Annual Forum of The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals held in San Diego, California during October 2006, there were almost 600 attending registrants. All were enthusiastic about the benefits to their clients of resolving disputes in a non-adversarial, non-litigation manner. In addition, the lawyers were equally if not more enthusiastic about the ability to practice with less stress and the delivery to the client of a better product at a typically much reduced emotional and financial cost.

The Collaborative Law process means that the parties decide at the outset not to go to Court. With the help of their professionals, they try to minimize, if not eliminate, the negative economic, social and emotional consequences that often result from "going to Court". Rather than looking backwards and attempting to paint one's spouse in as negative a light as possible, the Collaborative Law process looks to the future in assisting parties with matters of parenting, custody, guardianship, access, division of assets, child and spousal support.

It is well acknowledged that often it is the children who suffer the most when families separate and legal proceedings take place. The Collaborative Law process seeks to minimize, if not eliminate, the stress and negativity that is often visited upon children when divorce litigation takes place.

In a perfect world, divorce would not occur and parents and children would live happily ever after. Unfortunately, that does not always occur. However, when divorce becomes a reality, an amicable divorce is possible, and the Collaborative process makes that possibility more likely.

Where to Find a Collaborative Lawyer

It is a good idea for the two of you to work together at selecting lawyers to carry you through the collaborative process. You both want to hire lawyers who have a proven demonstrated history of being able to successfully work together to bring parties to resolution through the collaborative process. Not all lawyers can work collaboratively. Lawyers are traditionally trained to work in opposition with each other, trained to think in the eventual possibility that a judge will determine who wins. Traditional lawyers do not think in terms of resolution because they are trained to think in terms of winning and losing, right and wrong. In the collaborative process everyone is a winner and there are no losers. If you use the collaborative process, you want to avoid hiring lawyers who have no experience working together in this new collaborative way, or worse yet, two lawyers who don't even know each other! In the old school way of doing things, one of you would go talk to a lawyer, that lawyer would promptly write a nasty letter or start a lawsuit or both, which in turn would prompt the other of you to engage what you hoped was an even nastier lawyer. The unspoken goal, traditionally, was to hire two sharpshooters for a shootout in court, with only one expected to be left standing in the end, in an attempt to prove who is right. When you are proceeding in the collaborative way, you want to avoid hiring lawyers who predominantly have honed their skills in the court room battlefield. But where do you find two experienced collaborative lawyers who have worked together for opposing parties? The answer is in a Collaborative Law Practice Group. A Collaborative Practice Group is a group of lawyers, coaches, child specialists and financial planners who have formed a group in their local community for the purpose of working together collaboratively. Members of a collaborative practice group regularly get together to practice their collaborative skills and to take further practice trainings together. The members of the Collaborative Practice Group of the Kootenays are all also Members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP). There are Collaborative Law Practice Groups now in every major centre in North America, and in 14 countries worldwide. You can link to any of these worldwide practice groups and you can find a collaborative lawyer from the IACP website. (www.collaborativepractice.com)

Lawyers Working Together

The unique feature of the Collaborative Law Process is that opposing lawyers actually work together at helping the two of you settle your differences, rather than work in opposition. This arrangement benefits everyone involved. The lawyers remain independent legal advisors and your solicitor/client relationship is not compromised. How can lawyers representing opposing positions in a dispute work together? That is the art of practising Collaborative Law. That is also the reason why it is important for you and the opposing party to coordinate efforts at selecting the two lawyers for your team. It is best to select two collaborative lawyers who have a demonstrated in other successful cases that they have the ability to work on a team representing opposing parties. A Collaborative Law Group is comprised of lawyers who regularly work together for opposite parties. You do not want to hire lawyers who have never worked together, or worse, have never even met each other.

Collaborative Law - Did you know?

Collaborative Law Group of Nelson -- NoCourt.ca

• Collaborative lawyers are interested in helping opposing parties reach mutually acceptable terms of a legally enforceable Separation Agreement.
• You can apply for a no court divorce after you have reached the terms of a Separation Agreement through the collaborative divorce process.
• Alternative dispute resolution is about find solutions rather than proving who is right.
• It is very important that your rights and your children’s rights are protected through the terms of a separation agreement before you apply for a no court divorce.
• Divorce does not have to be a fight. Let us coach you to design your own final divorce order through agreement. The Collaborative Process is the dignified way to divorce.
• Collaborative lawyers are also trained mediators. But, a mediator alone cannot offer legal advice. In collaborative divorce, you have your legal adviser with you at all times.
• Collaborative lawyers are interested in the health and well being of their community more than helping you prove who is right. Collaborative divorce is a healthy and dignified and fair solution.
• Courts are about laying blame and finding fault. Collaborative divorce is no fault divorce. Collaborative law is about finding solutions to disputes.
• In the court process, a judge decides who is the winner and who is the loser. In a collaborative divorce, the each member of the family are winners.

Collaborative Law Group of Nelson -- NoCourt.ca

What is a Collaborative Practice Group?

A collaborative practice group is a group of lawyers and other helping professionals who have formed a connection so that they can collectively offer you a team approach to dispute resolution. It’s best for opposing parties to retain two lawyers who have worked together for opposite parties and have a proven record of success. You can find two such lawyers in a Collaborative Practice Group.

The Collaborative Law Group of Nelson is a collaborative practice group. Visit our site to learn more about our services. www.NoCourt.ca

Getting to Collaborative Law

Hi there,

I have been reading the venerable best-seller "Getting to Yes" by Roger Fisher and William Ury. Although first published over 25 years ago it is amazing to see how current it remains in relation to the increasingly popular phenomenon of collaborative Family Law. The fundamental principles have been around a long time! It just took savvy people, like Stu Webb and the thousands who have dared to break the mold and employed collaborative family law practice to resolve their own issues, to prove that it can work in the settlement of divorce cases. In fact based on my experiences, I would say that people are consistently getting better separation agreements, faster and cheaper using collaborative family practice. Here's to the pioneers! Lets keep up the good work

Out of Court Divorce - Collaborative Process

Out of Court Divorce - Nelson BC

The Collaborative Process:

• begins with a Participation Agreement
• when applied to divorce results in huge Benefits including less stress, lower costs and happier kids without going to court
• moves the focus from blame to resolution
• differs from mediation in that a mediator is a neutral party who cannot offer advice or opinions, where the collaborative process allows both parties to have active legal advisors - you are never on your own - your collaborative Lawyer is at your side explaining issues and helping you achieve goals by mutual participation and agreement

Out of Court Divorce Web Site