About Legal Assistance in Non-Contested Family Matters

What is the difference between your being a mediator and my legal adviser?

As a mediator, I am neutral and in that capacity am not a legal  advocate for either party. As a lawyer/legal consultant, I am providing legal advice and guidance to one party to the dispute, and may even represent them in the proceeding. I can wear one or the other of the two hats, but not both in the same case!

What does “non-contested” mean? We certainly don’t agree on everything!

In a collaborative family law case, both parties are fully committed to a cooperative, non-adversarial process designed to eventually produce a settlement that works for everyone. It doesn’t mean there are no areas of disagreement or bumps along the way. The parties, nonetheless, are dedicated to resolving disputes without resort to court hearings or trial. Obviously not every case falls in this category. If a party is in physical danger and/or needs immediate restraining orders, or is facing a financial emergency, it might be best for that person to hire an attorney who can obtain the court relief necessary to fully protect them.

So, if you don’t go to court, what do you do?

I may provide task-specific assistance to my client to ensure that his or her needs are met. This can take the form of legal consultations only, where the client is the primary negotiator with her/her spouse, former spouse, or partner, and I am a legal coach. I may assist the client in the preparation of the appropriate legal documents, by either drafting them myself or reviewing the work they have done. If my client is participating in mediation, my role may be to help them with their negotiations either with “between session” consults, or actual attendance at the mediation. Or, I may become the official attorney of record on behalf of my client.

It looks like you may wear different legal hats depending on the circumstances. What payment arrangements are available?

It depends on the nature of my assistance. I may simply charge per each legal consult, a sort of “pay as you go”, without any kind of advance fee payment. Many services may be charged at a flat fee. Or I may ask for an advance fee deposit that is placed in the client’s trust account. The client then receives monthly statements and the fees are charged to this account Remember, I only provide legal services in non-contested matters. Thus, the amount of the advance fee deposit I may request tends to be measured by the services I am being contracted to provide, as opposed to the traditional standard fee charged by attorneys who provide a full range of representation that could include protracted and adversarial negotiations or court appearances. If I am retained as the client’s attorney in a collaborative law case, my advance fee deposit will be somewhere between that charged in the limited role scenario described above and a traditional contested case.

With thanks to the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals for excerpts from its FAQs.