As anxious as we all feel, it was reaffirming as a collaborative practitioner to attend this year’s Spring Conference in Austin. From the opening remarks about what has been accomplished in Texas over the last 20 years to John McShane’s militant cry that it’s time we directly challenge the family law litigators to the profound lyrics of Jack Emmott’s remarks about the presence of hope in our everyday lives, the conference had a lot to offer all the attendees. Austin’s Jonathan Friday … [Read more...]
Expanding Collaborative Divorce Marketing Efforts
What are we trying to accomplish when we announce that we are creating new marketing efforts in order to grow the use of the Collaborative Divorce Process in Texas? In one of my previous incarnations, I was an entertainment executive responsible for programming theaters and amphitheaters with live entertainment. I had a mentor who used very few words when he gave me advice on marketing: “Sell more tickets!!” I would sit back in my chair and think about that phrase over and over. … [Read more...]
“Collaborative” Added to Bexar County District Court Standing Order
By Mickey Gayler & Kim Munsinger It started with an idea: What if every divorce petition or Suit Affecting Parent-Child Relationship (“SAPCR”) filed in Bexar County had an attached order suggesting the collaborative process? For years collaborative practitioners have been trying to reach this targeted population that needs our help most. This could do it. In Bexar County, all divorces and SAPCRs must have a standing order attached to the original petition. Near the end of the six-page … [Read more...]
Secondary Traumatic Stress in Attorneys Who Practice Family Law
Lynn Jennings, PhD, LPCS, LSOT Stephen Jennings, PhD, LPCS, LSOTP Jennings Counseling and Associates - Amarillo, TX Lynn and Stephen Jennings gave an in-depth look at our professional selves to the attendees at the sold-out Collaborative Divorce Texas Luncheon on Tuesday at the Advanced Family Law Course in San Antonio. While the title of the talk was enough to make one think we were taking a graduate level course in psychology, the presenters did a terrific job of minimizing jargon and … [Read more...]
Beyond Interest-Based Negotiation – Stephen H. Sulmeyer, J.D., Ph.D.
Doctor Stephen Sulmeyer led a challenging all day class in Austin in June for the 50+ collaborative team members attending the 2018 CDT Advanced Training. Moving beyond interest-based negotiation is a big change from how most of us were trained. After briefly tracing the evolution of modern negotiation practice from position-based to interest-based, he broke new ground for many of us by suggesting that the evolution of the next paradigm will require: • a willingness to be uncomfortable; … [Read more...]
Practice Tip: Just What Was I Thinking When I Put This Team Together?
Two things immediately come to mind when I am being interviewed by a prospective collaborative client: First, how do we get the other spouse to agree to use the collaborative process ; and Second, I hope I know the other lawyer. This is entirely because assembling a collaborative team is always so much easier when the other lawyer is something of a known quantity. It makes the initial evaluation and communication period, that time prior to the signing of the Collaborative Agreement, so much … [Read more...]
