Global Collaborative Law Council

In July, 2009 at its Annual Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Uniform Law Commission by a unanimous vote, approved the Uniform Collaborative Law Act. GCLC President Larry Maxwell is co-chair of the Collaborative Law Committee of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, and served as the Section's Advisor to the UCLA Drafting Committee which drafted the Act.

The ABA Collaborative Law Committee has prepared an Executive Summary of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act which provides a section by section analysis of the UCLA as approved by the Commission. It is anticipated that the Act will be available for consideration by state legislatures in mid-2010.

An article entitled The Uniform Collaborative Law Act: It's here appears In the Fall 2009 edition of Alternative Resolutions, a publication of the ADR Section of the State Bar of Texas. The article provides a brief history of the Uniform Law Commission, gives an overview of the collaborative process, identifies the reasons that the Commission deemed it appropriate to codify the process into a uniform law and highlights the significant provisions of the Act

The Uniform Law Commission submitted the UCLA to the ABA House of Delegates for approval at the ABA Mid-Year in Orlando, Florida, February 5-8, 2010. The UCLA was supported by a number of ABA entities: including the Sections of Dispute Resolution, Individual Rights & Responsibilities, Family Law Section and many delegates. In view of concerns about the Act, voiced by the ABA Litigation Section and other groups, the Uniform Law Commission in consultation with proponents of the Act, decided to withdraw the Act from consideration by the ABA at this time.

The Uniform Law Commission is re-convening the committee that drafted the Act for a two day meeting March 26-27, 2010, to consider the concerns raised by the opponents. It is anticipated that the UCLA will be submitted for consideration by several state legislatures in 2010.

GCLC is outgrowing Texas. We welcome new members from coast to coast in the USA: Nora Bushfield (Georgia), Norman Solovay and Lisa Brogan (New York), Michael Zeytoonian (Massachusetts), Talia Katz (Arizona), Kathleen Clark (California) and Karen Fasler (Washington); and our first international members: Robert Lopich, Lorraine Lopich and Charlie Belperio (Australia), Bradley Hunter and Cynthia Woods (Canada), Marie Brozova and Eva Vankova (Czech Republic), Michael Lind (United Kingdom) and Prathamesm Popat (India). The Council continues to grow in its home state of Texas. We welcome new members: David Calkins, George Flint, Mark Lewis, Linda LaBeau, Ronnie McClure and Paul Scott. To learn more about our new members, go to the Member Directory.

The Board of Directors has developed a structure which will accommodate the worldwide expansion of GCLC. Initially, three Regions have been established: North America Region, which is under the direction of William B. Short, Jr. of Dallas; the Austral/Asian Region which is supervised by Robert and Lorraine Lopich of Sydney, Australia; and the UK/Europe Region which is headed by Michael Lind of the UK. The initial Chapters which have been established are the Pacific Northwest Chapter which is chaired by Karen Fasler of Washington state; the West Coast Chapter, chaired by Kathleen Clark of California; the Southeast Chapter, chaired by Nora Bushfield of Georgia; and the Northeast Chapter which is chaired by Norman Solovay of New York. As membership grows, additional Chapters will be established throughout the Regions.

Sherrie Abney, GCLC's co-founder and VP for Training and Continuing Education, among her many talents, will edit the GCLC Newsletter, which will be delivered periodically to members via e-mail. The newsletter will keep GCLC members informed regarding the activities in various collaborative communities around the world. If you would like to stay abreast of the worldwide collaborative movement as a member of GCLC, you may apply to become a Licensed Professional Member or an Associate Member. For more information on the Benefits of Membership and to obtain a New Member Application form, go to Membership Information.

The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR Institute) is an international nonprofit coalition of corporate counsel, top law firms, judiciary and academics, dedicated to providing resources and information in commercial conflict prevention and dispute management. The Journal of Dispute Resolution, a publication of the University of Missouri School of Law., recently published an article by Kathy A. Bryan, President and CEO of the CPR Institute entitled Why Should Businesses Hire Settlement Counsel?  Ms. Bryan outlines the benefits of CL, gives ideas and proposals for future direction of the CL movement and concludes: "Given the rapid growth and stunning impact of CL in family law, it is time to experiment with CL concepts in the business setting. The author encourages corporate counsel to take the lead and experiment with using separate settlement counsel and with more pure forms of CL.  

Robert Lopich, a collaborative lawyer and nationallly accredited mediator in Sydney, Australia, has  been appointed by the Council as its first International Director and Chair of the Council's Austral/Asian Region. In Collaborating Down Under Robert provides a glowing report of the March 2009 collaborative law conference held in Sydney, and describes the enthuastic support of Australian government officials for the collaborative law movement in Australia.

New GCLC member Norman Solovay is Chair of the ADR Section of the New York law firm of McLaughlin & Stern LLP, Norman will serve as Chair of GCLC's Northeast Region. He and GCLC President Larry Maxwell have co-authored an article entitled "Why a Uniform Collaborative Law Act?," which has been published in Spring 2009, Vol. 2, No. 1, of the New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, a publication of the New York State Bar Association. The article provides an in-depth analysis of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act, which will be submitted for final reading in July at the Annual Meeting of the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Act will be available for enactment by state legislatures later this year. The authors strongly support enactment of the UCLA and opine that ". . .the further growth and development of collaborative law holds out significant benefits for clients and the legal profession. . ."

In February 2007, the American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution established a Collaborative Law Committee. David Hoffman of Boston and Larry Maxwell of Dallas currently serve as Co-chairs of the Committee. The mission of the Committee is to encourage the use of Collaborative Law, educate the Section, the ABA and the public about the use of Collaborative Law, A number of GCLC members actively participate in the work of the Committee.

In August 2007 the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 07-477 approving the use of collaborative law agreements by lawyers. The ABA Ethics Opinion puts to rest the questions raised by the Colorado Ethics Opinion, and squarely supports the use of collaborative law participation agreements so long as the clients are well informed about the process. In October 2008, the Collaborative Law Committee authored a Discussion Draft entitled Summary of Ethics Rules Governing Collaborative Practice, The paper addresses ethical issues considered in state court opinions issued to date and ABA Formal Opinion 07-477.

In the current edition of the Construction Law Journal, a publication of the State Bar of Texas Construction Law Section, is an an article entitled Collaborative Law: It's Here and the ConsensusDocs Are, Too, authored by Lawrence R. Maxwell, Jr. and William B. Short, Jr. The article provides a brief historical perspective of the development of the collaborative dispute resolution process, detail how the process works and explain the similarities between the protocols and procedures of the collaborative process and the construction industry’s new ConsensusDOCS. Gregory M. Cokinos, of the Houston law firm of  Cokinos, Bosien & Young, Editor of the Journal comments that "the collaborative process requires a different approach to resolving disputes with a cooperative mandate and deserves consideration."

Avoiding Litigation: A Guide to Civil Collaborative Law 
        by Sherrie R. Abney, TCLC's VP for Training and CLE

The book is available on the author's website, Four Corners Solutions, Inc., or through the publisher's on-line book store. Avoiding Litigation has received excellent reviews, by Gay G. Cox, published in The Collaborative Review, and by Lawrence R. Maxwell, Jr., published in Alternative Resolutions.

Avoiding Litigation has received notable endorsements from around the country:

"Here it is! The definitive book on Civil Collaborative practice!"

                                    Rita Pollak, Co-founder
                                    Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council

"Thank you for providing this excellent work to spread the gospel. Only one as uniquely qualified as you could have transferred lessons learned from domestic practice to the civil arena - and you have performed the task eloquently. Your work will be a useful tool in reforming a flawed legal system."

                                    Nolan Murrah, Program Director

                                    Office of Dispute Resolution, State of Georgia

"Avoiding Litigation provides a great deal of practical information in a theoretical framework that helps both clients and their counsel understand this revolutionary new approach to conflict resolution. I recommend this book to attorneys who are interested in trying this new, better way of practicing law and resolving conflicts."

                                    William M. Andrews, Director
                                    Collaborative Council of the Redwood Empire

"This book is a must read for attorneys interested in exploring the possibility of enhancing their own lives and that of their clients by utilizing this ground-breaking new approach to dispute resolution. Abney's style is eminently readable, and her grasp of collaborative concept is as good as you can get."
                                    
                                    Norma Levine Trusch, Immediate Past President
                                    International Academy of Collaborative Professionals

GCLC attorney members in Dallas, Texas have joined with family collaborative attorneys and developed a program to assist civil and family courts with cases involving pro se parties. Upon referral from courts and with the informed consent of pro se parties, collaborative attorneys are representing pro se parties on a pro bono basis.