Articles & Links

Collaborative Practice Philosophy | Brian Don Levy 2007 - It has been said that roughly 50% or more of all marriages end in divorce. Non-marital relationships fail at similar rates as well. But the emotional devastation that often occurs with the breakup of a relationship doesn't have to be. That is where Collaborative Practice lives. Read More

THE H & G CASE - Analysis of a successful high conflict collaborative divorce | Brian Don Levy - When Manny first came to see me he was interviewing me as a litigation attorney for his divorce case. I explained to Manny that the most important choice he will have to make is choosing the process through which his divorce case would proceed. As a firm believer in the Collaborative Divorce Process, I explained to Manny why I thought he should consider the collaborative divorce process, as I routinely do with divorcing clients during their initial consultation. Read More

Don't Be Fooled | Brian Don Levy- I have spent most of the 39 years of my family law attorney career as a family law litigator. There was a time that if you asked me to describe what a really good day looked like, I would have replied by telling you that "I shredded someone on the witness stand and made them cry." Seriously! Today my answer to that same question is "I helped someone achieve success as they defined it for themselves by facilitating a peaceful resolution." I feel much better about myself, the work that I am doing, and the legacy that I am creating. Read More

Choose Wisely | Brian Don Levy- When we have an important event in our life, we think things through, evaluate choices, and plan carefully for success. For example, when we get married, most of us spend a significant amount of time and resources planning every aspect and detail of the event, by evaluating choices and carefully planning. Many important choices are made regarding the date of the event, the event location, event decorations, event transportation, bridesmaids, groomsmen, wedding party gifts, the vows, the minister, the color scheme, the caterer, the photographer, the flowers, the music, the first dance, the Bride’s guest list, the Groom’s guest list, the gift registry (item by item, room by room), and on and on it goes. With each individual component the couple and their family considers the information, evaluates choices, and carefully plans each separate component so that when all of the separate components are put together, the wedding event meets the needs of the family that is being united on their special day. Each individual component is carefully examined, thought about, and the family chooses wisely. Then each individual component that was carefully thought about and chosen is put together, and the event is essentially completed in a day.Read More

The Christian Divorce | Brian Don Levy - The Christian Divorce may be a misnomer, as the bible is very specific on the subject of a divorce (Matthew 5:31-32). While it is clear that God hates divorce, there is no doubt that God loves divorced people. Once the decision is made to end a marriage, for whatever reason, the way we choose to transition our family will determine the legacy or the loss that we leave for ourselves as well as our family members. Read More

Collaborative Language | Brian Don Levy - While divorce may be inevitable, the way you divorce isn't. The process you choose is the second most important decision that you will make as you begin to transition your family from what it was to what it will be. Read More.

The Role of a Collaborative Divorce Coach | Jann Glasser- Divorce is just as much a life transition as marriage. Divorce is not about the division of property; it is about the division of lives. Read More

Taking a Bad Song and Making It Better | Jann Glasser - You can choose to do battle. You can choose to let someone else decide who gets what. OR – you can choose to work with your spouse to address the needs, interests and objectives each of you have for the future and decide how to best meet them. Although divorce may be inevitable, Collaborative Divorce insures that it does not have to be unbearable. Read More

How No-Court Divorce Benefits Children | Carol R. Hughes, Ph.D., LMFT - Children are the innocent victims of litigated divorce, which by definition, is adversarial. Divorce ranks second only to the death of a loved one as life’s most stressful experiences. Litigation compounds that stress exponentially due to the hostility it engenders and the exorbitant costs parents incur. “Combat divorce”, as litigation is often called, requires that each parent have the biggest battleship armed with the biggest guns, which take aim at the battleship of the other parent. Let’s remember that, no matter what else changes, each of these soon to be “ex-spouses” forever remain their child(ren)’s other parent. During the process of litigation, that obvious fact becomes obscured in the oppressive and adversarial language used to characterize the other spouse, thus making it almost impossible for each parent to think of the other parent as their child(ren)’s other parent and as a parent who possesses positive qualities.Read More

Adult Children of Divorce: The Invisible Children | Carol R. Hughes, Ph.D., LMFT - How would it benefit your adult children to speak with a Child Specialist during your Collaborative Divorce Process? How would it benefit you, their parents? Read More

4 Legal Documents to Consider Amending After Your Divorce | Paul J. Toohey, CDFA - The high divorce rate in California and beyond has some interesting ramifications for individuals that have gone through a divorce. While your will, trust, and medical directives may not be the first things that come to mind during the often heart-wrenching process of divorce, they each need to be carefully looked at and considered. Read More

The Role of the Financial Neutral in the Divorce Process | Paul J. Toohey, CDFA - In Collaborative Divorce, a place has been set aside in the professional team for a Financial Neutral/Specialist. This individual has the expertise and training to assist the clients and team by conducting a comprehensive assessment of the divorcing couple's financial affairs, including assets(homes, bank accounts, investments, businesses), debts (mortgages, loans, credit cards), and cash flows(such as income derived from work or other sources). Read More

Men are familiar with feelings of anger; we have felt those feelings since childhood. We believe we know how to handle anger. Anger is also our defensive mechanism to get others to back off when we feel we are in corner or if we don’t know what’s going on. Anger is used when all else fails, our anger shuts people up. Read More

The Cost of Not Being Collaborative | Leslee J. Newman, Esq., CFLS - Recently, I received a telephone call from one of my clients (who I’ll refer to as “Hank”) whose divorce was completed in November, 2003 through the collaborative process. Hank’s collaborative divorce case, which included the issues of property division, child custody, and support, took approximately six months to complete at a total cost for the two collaborative attorneys and financial professional of less than $15,000.00. Read More

An Alternative to Adversarial Divorce | Susie Duffy, M.F.T. - In the last few years, a new technique has arisen in the practice of divorce law that attempts to resolve a divorce by both parties agreeing not to go to court. Collaborative Divorce (“CD”) is a way of going through the divorce process which minimizes the emotional impact on the family with the help of a team of professionals. Read More

The magic moment in the collaborative process | Glen Rabenn, Esq. Success in the collaborative process often occurs as a “magic moment.” This is a pivotal point in the negotiation when the spouses mutually arrive upon the realization that they are involved in a process that actually works for them and their children. To the collaborative professionals these are the moments when their hopes and aspirations for the collaborative process are both justified and fulfilled. Read More