9th March 2006

Dear Colleague,

As fellow Accredited Family Law Specialists we are writing to tell you about the establishment of Queensland Collaborative Law and to invite you to join in the development of collaborative law in this State as a mainstream dispute resolution process.

For those of you new to the concept, "collaborative law" is a term coined in 1990 by Stu Webb, a Minnesota mediator and lawyer to describe a dispute resolution process whereby the core elements of the collaborative agreement between the clients and the lawyers are designed to maximize the creative dispute resolution talents of BOTH the lawyers and the clients.

Those elements can be summarized as:

• Written commitment by the parties and their lawyers that they will negotiate in good faith and if the dispute is unable to be resolved by negotiation both lawyers will retire from the matter and the parties will retain new lawyers for their litigation.
• Negotiations take place in a series of four-way meetings involving the parties and their lawyers. There is minimal written communication between lawyers and the aim is for all of the "work" to be done at the four way meetings with maximum input and involvement by the clients.
• The role of the lawyer is identified and accepted by the clients from the outset to be to assist the client with the identification and pursuit of their interests , not the creation of bargaining positions designed to maximize the share of the available "pie". One of the aims of the process is to recognize the value in maintaining, or creating through the behaviors modeled in the process, a working relationship between the parties into the future - an outcome often touted but rarely seen in the currently available methods.
• The parties have available to them as part of the process, not just as a referral away from the main process, the expertise of other appropriate professionals to assist in the understanding of the emotional, financial, taxation, children's and other issues required to reach a truly negotiated agreement. The process also moves at a pace that recognizes and respects that parties move at differing paces through the emotional continuum and allows parties time, space and support to "catch up" so that the process can move forward at a pace suitable to the parties as opposed to moving to a timetable imposed by the Court process or dictated by the lawyers.

Whilst many of the skills required to practice collaborative law are similar to those required to practice in mediation, there are many that are different and there are many ways in which this process differs significantly from the more traditional methods of dispute resolution.

As part of the process of founding Queensland Collaborative Law we travelled to the United States earlier this year to take part in a training run by the co-founder of the organization, Pauline Tesler (who also wrote the definitive text on the process - "Collaborative Law").

If we can obtain sufficient interest we propose arranging for Pauline Tesler or a similarly qualified and respected Collaborative Law trainer to hold training sessions in South East Queensland. It is likely that these training sessions will take place over a two (2) day period later this year. We have already had preliminary discussions with Pauline and she is both available in that time frame and keen to come and conduct our training for us.

There is already a sizable group of family law practitioners in the ACT practising collaborative law and there has been a National body established (NCCL - National Centre of Collaborative Lawyers).

Collaborative Law is on the agenda for discussion at the next meeting of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.

This is an approach whose time is come. It is practiced extensively in the US , with legislation having been passed in some States there to accommodate various aspects of it. It is also practised widely in the United Kingdom in the Family Law area.

We would encourage all family law practitioners, and particularly accredited specialists to become educated about and support this new process.

Further we would encourage all family law specialists to join Queensland Collaborative Law and be part of the move in this State to develop collaborative law as one of the main stream alternate dispute resolution processes.

The benefits of membership include a listing on our website (www.qldcollablaw.com.au), mail outs regarding trainings organized and updates about developments in the area. We will also be setting up practice groups to meet and discuss problems and issues as they arise in the practical application of collaborative law. Draft client information sheets, client agreements and other materials will also be available to members.

The founding members are also members of the Australian National body, NCCL, and of the peak international body, IACP. We would encourage you to visit the IACP website, www.collaborativepractice.com , for articles and information about collaborative law.

Applications for Membership to Queensland Collaborative Lawyers can be downloaded from our website and faxed or sent to any one of the founding members listed below. The requirements of a membership are:-

• That you are currently an Accredited Family Law Specialist; and
• That you have, within the past 5 years, undertaken at least 2 days of basic mediation training, or you a current QLS Approved Mediator; and
• That you make a commitment to undertake appropriate Collaborative Law training within 12 months of becoming a member of QLD Collaborative Law.

Please contact any of the founding members, whose details are below, with any queries or input.

Yours faithfully, QUEENSLAND COLLABORATIVE LAW

CASSANDRA PULLOS
Accredited Family Law Specialist
ADAMSON BERNAYS KYLE & JONES
Phone: (07) 5532 3199
Facsimile: (07) 5591 3402
Email: cjp@abkj.com.au
Website: www.abkj.com.au

SUZANNE HARRISON
Accredited Family Law Specialist
McCOWANS FAMILY LAWYERS
Phone: (07) 5531 4444
Facsimile: (07) 5630 0600
Email: family@mccowans.com.au
Website: http://www.mccowans.com.au

KATE KEATING
Accredited Family Law Specialist
LEHNS SOLICITORS
Phone: (07) 5593 3300
Facsimile: (07) 5578 7461
Email: kk@lehns.com.au