Your separation and divorce can be negotiated or mediated without having to go to court.
Work together with your spouse, with the support of a team of family and financial professionals. Families all over the world are discovering that collaborative family law is
the better way to separate.
A collaborative divorce and family law approach allows for families in transition, including separating and divorcing spouses or common law partners, to avoid the hostility and expense that are often the result of litigating matters through the court.
With over 40 years of experience in resolving disputes concerning separations and divorce, the dedicated and responsive team at Sherman Law LLP understands how harmful court proceedings can be to a family and the importance of finding a way to have discussions and resolve disputes without causing hurt to the people involved.
Our team of highly skilled collaborative family law lawyers and accredited family mediators have specialized and advanced training, including from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
Our lawyer-mediators are certified in online dispute resolution (ODR) and will help you to achieve a favourable and fair settlement in-person or virtually without having to go to court.
Work with a team of legal, family, and financial professionals to talk, listen, and resolve your family law conflict and dispute by focusing on what is best
for your family.
Collaborative divorce negotiations
and settlement meetings may include:
Interest-based discussions based on principled negotiation
Insightful discussions focused on relationship building and enhancing family communication
Integrative legal practise focused on identifying values and seeking values-based solutions
Emotional intelligence in situations of conflict and decision-making
Exercises focused on making decisions in alignment with core values and principles
Plain language and visual aids that provide a framework for authentic communication, connection, clarity, and relationship design
Preparation of Separation Agreements and Parenting Plans
The Conscious Contracts® process that bring relationships to the heart of agreements through creating sustainable, relational, and values-based agreements
Collaborative family law is an interest-based and insightful approach to conflict and dispute resolution based on principles of good faith, honesty, respect, integrity, cooperation, and transparency in disclosure of financial information.
The process allows couples to openly discuss their concerns and resolve disputes through interest-based conversations in a manner that is rare in litigation by reviewing the needs of the whole of a person and the needs of the family with focus on the present and moving forward.
The emotional, financial, and legal elements are all equally important in collaborative family law. We focus on the relationships that matter most to you, including your children.
The specially trained family lawyers at Sherman Law LLP are duly qualified to assist you in a collaborative divorce process because they are certified collaborative legal professionals through the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and accredited family mediators through the Ontario Association for Family Mediation. These advanced conflict management skills are especially important if you and your spouse reach impasse, where conflict may cause the negotiation discussions to break down.
Our legal professionals have hands-on and practical experience to get you past the conflict and to keep the conversations going to reach settlement through wholistic and integrative legal practise that focuses on the needs of the entire family in resolving conflict and disputes.
Couples entering into this out-of-court process mutually agree by way of a Participation Agreement not to enter into litigation proceedings.
By taking this approach to conflict and dispute resolution, you and your spouse become engaged and active participants in an out-of-court separation and divorce process that is best for your family.
OUR TOP TEN REASONS IN SUPPORT
OF COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE
We start the process by meeting with you individually to get to know you and learning what is important to you and your family.
The lawyers then meet together to discuss how to move forward with the settlement meetings based on the goals and concerns of each spouse.
OUR TOP TEN REASONS IN SUPPORT
OF COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE
You will work together with a collaboratively trained lawyer representing each spouse and the collaborative team of family and financial professionals to achieve resolution of your dispute that best represent your wishes and beliefs, and the best interests of your children.
Frequently, couples also work with divorce coaches and child specialists. The goal will be to work together to reach agreement on the terms for a comprehensive separation agreement and/or parenting plan.
We will help you to select a team of professionals that are right for your family, including:
The financial, family, lawyer-mediator, and mental health professionals each remain neutral. This neutrality means that they help you and your family to resolve your problems without taking sides and remain impartial to the decision-making process.
The collaborative process focuses on supporting you and your family to reach an agreement to successfully move forward in two new households.
When you and your spouse are satisfied with the terms of agreement, your lawyers will help you to draft a separation agreement and/or parenting plan.
Often, the agreement will allow for future review and possible changes. Some families decide to work with the family professional to update parenting arrangements as their children grow or to get help with parenting challenges.
Our lawyers and professionals have advanced training to keep discussions going and to continue to move you and your spouse forward towards resolving your conflict and dispute.
Collaborative discussions are private and confidential.
The discussions and the negotiations during the collaborative sessions remain strictly confidential and cannot be used in any subsequent court or arbitration proceedings. This is different from litigation and court proceedings where discussions and documents become a public record.
We are a members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), Collaborative Divorce Waterloo Region (Best4All), Collaborative Practice Hamilton Halton (CPHH), Collaborative Family Law London & Middlesex, a practice group member of the Ontario Association of Collaborative Professionals (OACP), and a practice group member of Collaborative Professionals of Canada (CPC).
Collaborative Divorce Mediation with a neutral collaborative lawyer-mediator offers a fresh and innovative approach to divorce that is healthy, family-centered, and affordable.
We are proud to be the first IACP trained collaborative law firm in Waterloo Region to offer collaborative mediation as part of our commitment to provide innovative legal options.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR APPROACH
TO DISPUTE RESOLUTION
If you would like to discuss collaborative divorce as part of your separation, please contact 519-884-0034 or send us an email. For over 40 years, clients have trusted in our ability to focus on facilitated and principled negotiation and collaboration to resolve disputes.
Many of our clients are referred to us by former and current clients, as well as by lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors. We serve clients in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Stratford, Hamilton, London and surrounding areas.
