Collaborative Family Law Attorney Naples, Florida

Collaborative law refers to a voluntary dispute resolution process that seeks to avoid litigation altogether. Nicole L. Goetz is trained and experienced in collaborative law. The collaborative law process can be shorter than the traditional litigation approach, mainly because the parties control virtually everything, including timeframes. When parties litigate, the busy court dockets, schedules of third parties, and other factors often lengthen the time between filing an action and obtaining a final resolution.

Opting to proceed with your family law matter through the collaborative process may result in the parties saving money because the process often supports and encourages the use of joint neutral experts in lieu of separate experts for each party. Other benefits of collaborative law:

• Requires an agreement on all sides to transparency in discovery.
• Allows the parties to maintain control of the progress of a matter, mitigate the costs of resolution, and apply available funds to the use of experts that will provide information necessary to a successful and comprehensive resolution of disputed matters.
• Provides for greater confidentiality in the process.

When parties litigate, certain documents become public record, and the courtroom is a public forum. In the collaborative process, much of your personal information can be made confidential.

Generally, the goal is to contract with your spouse and his or her attorney to communicate and work together, or “collaborate,” to resolve the dispute, avoiding the perils of the adversarial court system and provides for a result that leaves both parties financial and emotionally intact. However, the collaborative process requires that if the parties cannot settle their case, they must retain new counsel to litigate their dispute.

Thus, collaborative law can be a great benefit to spouses in Southwest Florida divorce cases who are committed to the process and will work towards a mutually satisfying settlement. However, it is not appropriate in every case.  If you would like more information on collaborative law and whether it might be the right choice for you, please contact our office in Naples, Florida to schedule a confidential consultation with Nicole L. Goetz.