Form 15-2

This form is written for a divorce case but may be reworded as appropriate for any other family law sit­uation.

Letter to Client’s Spouse Inviting Collaboration

[Date]

[Name and address of client’s spouse]

Re:   Divorce proceedings

[Salutation]

As you perhaps know, I have been retained by your [wife/husband] to represent [her/him] in divorce proceedings. I am writing you to outline the way I operate in these proceed­ings with the hope of enlisting your active involvement in a refreshing approach to resolving divorce issues that is straightforward and does not involve the courts in an adversarial way.

The approach is called “collaborative law.” [Include if applicable: A brochure describ­ing this process is enclosed.] Collaborative law provides a unique settlement process as an alternative to expensive, time-consuming trial procedures. The collaborative law process does not rely on court-imposed resolutions; instead, it relies on an atmosphere of honesty, coopera­tion, integrity, and professionalism geared toward the future well-being of the [parties/family]. In this process, each party hires an attorney trained in collaborative law. The parties understand that if adversarial proceedings are required because they and their attorneys are not able to settle the divorce through informal talks and sharing of information, the collabora­tive attorneys will withdraw and trial attorneys will be retained for adversarial proceedings.

Your spouse would like to participate in the collaborative law process. If you retain a collaborative attorney, we can proceed on that basis. Enclosed is a list of some local collabo­rative attorneys for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,

   
[Name of attorney]

Enc.

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