The MDW Law series of lawyer introductions continues in 2016 with associate Laura Kanaan…
Laura is originally from New Brunswick. But don’t hold that against her! She is an avid traveller and plans her trips so thoroughly she could moonlight as a travel critic. Friends have dubbed her the “vacation whisperer” and frequently enlist her services. Laura is passionate about cooking and all things food-related. She used to consider herself a fairly accomplished cook…until her chef mother-in-law showed her otherwise.
Laura brings her thoroughness, attention to detail and passion to her Family Law and Real Estate practice. She is the President of the Association of Collaborative Professionals of Nova Scotia and has assisted many family law clients in achieving agreements through this process.
Laura recently authored “Family Law…The Collaborative Family Law Option” for the MDW Law blog (reproduced below).
What is Collaborative Law?
If you’ve separated from your spouse, choosing a dispute resolution process can be overwhelming. Many people have a desire to avoid court, but beyond that they have many questions about what process will best suit the needs of their family.
Collaborative family law can be an attractive option for families going through a separation who do not want to go to court. Many people have heard of collaborative law, but are unsure of what is involved.
Collaborative law is a method of settling issues following a separation. It is facilitated by trained lawyers who assist participants in resolving conflict using cooperative strategies rather than adversarial techniques. Through a series of group meetings, lawyers and participants focus on identifying underlying interests and generating solutions that meet them. Collaborative Family Law participants agree to negotiate an agreement without going to court.
Are you considering whether collaborative is right for you? Here are a few benefits of collaborative law:
- Takes your needs, and your children’s needs into consideration
Collaborative law will focus on what matters to you, as well as what your children need. Collaborative professionals are training to explore what each party hopes for, what they are concerned about, and what will work best for the family unit. With this information, the collaborative professionals assist the family to develop personalized outcomes that ensure all parties’ needs are met.
- Allows privacy
Because the collaborative process is an out of court settlement process, the parties retain control over the how their information is disseminated. The proceeding does not become public record. I’ve found this can be an attractive option for participants who have sensitive financial information, such as business owners.
- Allows you to have control over the outcome
Collaborative participants retain control over their outcomes. Participants and the collaborative professionals will generate a series of options that are tailored to meet the needs that each party has identified. This creates durable agreements that make sense to the participants.
- Control over pace
Collaborative agreements are achieved through a series of team meetings. The timing of these meetings is set by the participants and their lawyers. This feature allows participants to move at a pace that works for them, rather than being constrained by external factors such as court availability.
- Binding Agreement
Once an agreement is reached, the collaborative lawyers will prepare a legally binding agreement or divorce documents similar to those reached through traditional negotiation, mediation or the court process.
For more information, or to book a consult with a collaboratively trained lawyer, visit https://www.collaborativefamilylawyers.ca/