Thank you for reading this month’s issue of Just Resolutions.
In this issue we are focused on the themes of “Flexibility and Inclusivity”.
As Collaborative Practitioners we continue to train and learn new tools that we add to our toolboxes. In creating and honing our dispute resolution / Collaborative skills we are much better at what we do if we are flexible, and inclusive.
Collaborative flexibility allows us to try different skills, different interventions, different approaches, and to observe the results so that when we run across a similar situation in another future case that we have more experience and better intuition on how we are going to handle that next experience.
Collaborative inclusivity affords us the power to reduce resistance to bringing into our Collaborative Containers others who have information we do not have. This is why an interdisciplinary approach to resolving conflict is so powerful: the clients are getting expert information from those who are educated, trained and experienced in the area in which information is needed. This supports the tenet of Collaborative Practice that clients should be able to rely on good information in creating their resolutions.
Our goal in presenting these articles is to educate members of the American Bar Association about Collaborative Practice so that we all can speak knowledgably about this consensual dispute resolution process with potential clients and within our legal community.
Over the last few years the number of clients choosing the Collaborative Law process to resolve their disputes has increased in numbers never before experienced. Part of this increase is due to the well-documented problems with getting matters before the court. Another part for this is that, with training, those of us who are committed to Collaborative Practice are getting better at what we do and our customers, the clients, are achieving resolutions they talk about to their families and friends, resulting in an increasing demand for the work we do.
We hope you enjoy this issue, and that you consider joining our ABA Collaborative Community.
Kevin R. Scudder
Seattle, WA
ABA DR Section Collaborative Law Committee Chair