Of interest were the following comments:
• “separating parents rarely behave reasonably, although they always believe that they are doing so, and that the other party is behaving unreasonably”
• that if a parent denigrates the other to their children the child’s sense of self-worth can be “irredeemably damaged”
• “parents simply do not realise the damage they do to their children by the battles they wage over them”
• “post separation parenting is exceedingly difficult” and as a rule of thumb his experience was “that the more intelligent the parent, the more intractable the dispute”
• “on the one hand there is parental unreasonableness and on the other a system which is simply not designed to address the issues which it is being asked to decide”.
• He said that family law does not easily fit into the concept of an adversarial system and he commented that “these problems are best resolved outside the courtroom not in it”.
• Lord Justice Wall, stated that he believed that the UK government was likely to invest heavily in the outcome of the Family Justice Review which is currently underway and he commented that one did not need a crystal ball to see that out of court mediation and conciliation will be encouraged.

Please see www.familylaw.co.uk for the full text of Lord Justice Wall’s speech.

On Friday the 4th of February 2011 a group of 25 Collaborative Lawyers gathered at the Stillorgan Park Hotel to hear William Hogg and Duane Plant of the Cambridge Law Practice share their valuable experience in Collaborative Law. The trainers opened the day with an overview of what Collaborative Law means and they presented it as part of the overall ADR options available to couples who are separating. They outlined the advantages of the process in dealing with children issues such as access, custody and maintenance without bringing the parties to Court and risking the collateral damage that such an approach can entail. It was remarked that in one sense the public are almost ahead of the lawyers in this regard in that they are approaching us seeking either collaboration or mediation as an alternative to the traditional Courts roles which they see as expensive in terms of money and stress in their lives.

The day was interspersed with nuggets from history which illustrated many of the points being made.

The day was entertaining, instructive and inspiring. We look forward to expanding the community of Collaborative Lawyers and will inform our readers of any future training days. If you are interested in becoming trained in Collaborative Law please do not hesitate to contact us at www.southdublincollaborativelawyers.ie.

This a PDF document and if you need the free PDF reader please click here to download it.

This a PDF document and if you need the free PDF reader please click here to download it.

The Irish Times’  Padraig O Morain said ” I think the concept of lawyers providing a non-adversarial service is a good one”. (Irish Times 16 March 2010). It is one of the strengths of the collaborative method. All parties participate fully to achieve a  solution that best suits their family without the threat of going to court.

As Yvonne McEvoy explained in her letter to Padraig O Morain, the collaborative method focuses on “the interests of all parties and in particular any children”. By not going to court, the parties are given the space to focus on those interests and to reach a solution, their solution.

To listen to this interview online please visit http://www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/2010-03-11.html

Michael Sheil, Minister Barry Andrews
& Shauna M V O’Gorman

LAUNCH OF SOUTH DUBLIN
COLLABORATIVE LAWYERS

by

BARRY ANDREWS T.D.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

Tuesday 23rd February 2010

On Tuesday 23rd February we hosted an information evening on an important new development in the area of conflict resolution – the Collaborative approach.

At the event we introduced the Collaborative approach and outlined its benefits in the area of family break-ups. The litigation process often increases the stress, particularly on children. However there is an alternative way through the Collaborative model.

The objective of the Collaborative method is to enable a couple to reach a solution in a non-adversarial way with the assistance of their lawyers. The agreement is client-centred and child focused. In that context the assistance of therapists may be required.

South Dublin Collaborative Lawyers (www.southdublincollaborativelawyers.ie) has been established by a number of us who are experienced Family Law Solicitors working in the South Dublin area.

More Photos of the Event

Gearoidín Charlton	Michael Sheil
South Dublin Collaborative Lawyers	Geraldine Shanley, Richard Humphries, of Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown County Council & Michael Sheil
Richard Humphries, of Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Minister Barry Andrews & Brendan Dillon