"A Civil Brand Of Dispute Resolution"

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Uniform Collaborative Law Act:

• The Uniform Collaborative Law Act (UCLA) was unanimously approved by the Uniform Law Commission at its Annual Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 15, 2009. The UCLA will be presented to the ABA House of Delegates for approval in February, 2010. It is anticipated that the ABA House of Delegates will approve the UCLA, as it has virtually all products of the Uniform Law Commission. The UCLA will be available for consideration by state legislatures in early 2010. GCLC supports enactment of the UCLA. The UCLA will spur the further growth and development of collaborative law, and provide significant benefits for clients and the legal profession.
  
  The Collaborative Law Committee of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution has prepared an Executive Summary of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act which provides a section by section analysis of the Act.
  
  

Ethics Opinions on Collaborative Law:

• Legal ethics opinions in nine states have addressed Collaborative Law: Minnesota (1997), North Carolina (2002), Pennsylvania (2004), Maryland (2004), Kentucky (2005), New Jersey (2005), Colorado (2007), Washington (2007), and Missouri (2008). All state ethics opinions, except the Colorado opinion, approve the use of Collaborative Law with appropriate precautions, such as the importance of obtaining informed consent.
  
• In August 2007, in response to the Colorado opinion the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 07-477, which squarely supports Collaborative Law provided that the client been has been informed about the benefits and risks of participating in the process and given his or her informed consent. Although the ABA Ethics Opinion is not binding on states, it has been and will continue to be persuasive as ethical opinions are issued by other states in the future.
• In October, 2008, the Collaborative Law Committee of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution issued a Discussion Draft entitled Summary of Ethics Rules Governing Collaborative Practice, The white paper addresses ethical issues considered in existing state court opinions and ABA Formal Opinion 07-477.
  
  

State Collaborative Law Statutes and Court Rules:

• Following the enactment of the Texas statute in 2001 which placed collaborative law procedures in the Family Code, two other states have enacted collaborative law statutes. The North Carolina statute (2003) is patterned after the Texas statute. The California statute (2007) requires a written agreement, but does not specifically define the elements of the collaborative law process. In addition, courts in California, Florida, Minnesota, and Utah have enacted rules providing for the use of Collaborative Law. 
  
  

                                                                                                                                                                 

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