Collaborative Family Law

Collaborative Family Law (CFL) is a process whereby the parties, with the assistance of specially trained counsel, attempt to balance their interests in a co-operative manner with minimal conflict. The goal is to reallocate the financial resources of the family and to restructure the parenting obligations and responsibilities of the parties in a balanced, respectful and non-confrontational context.

The process of CFL is coordinated by two very experienced family law lawyers acting for each of the parties. They have been trained in collaborative law and are resolution-oriented. Many of them are practicing mediators and use this as another tool to assist in the resolution of the parties’ affairs.

Other professionals such as financial planners, accountants, appraisers, family counsellors, life coaches and parenting coordinators, who are also trained in CFL methodology, can be brought in to assist in the resolution process as necessary.

Collaborative Family Law is generally less expensive than a standard formal negotiation and significantly less expensive than litigation. For more information on Collaborative Family Law and a list of the counsel available locally to provide this service, please visit: http://www.collaborativepracticeottawa.ca/en-find.html

Gerald Yemensky, Alison Campbell, Karla Policelli, and Danielle Waechter currently provide Collaborative services for CCY Family Law.