Confidentiality and privilege are important legal rights and duties in a collaborative divorce. Confidentiality is a legal protection of private information shared with institutions such as businesses, hospitals, schools or a law firm. Ordinarily, privilege covers only direct communications between an attorney or physician and her client. However, within a Collaborative Divorce, all communications are afforded the protection of privilege, which is the highest level of privacy protection … [Read more...]
Star-Telegram highlights our new credentials for collaborative professionals
We were thrilled to receive coverage from the Fort-Worth Star Telegram around the official change of our organization's name to Collaborative Divorce Texas. In the article, columnist Teresa McUsic provided an insightful overview to collaborative divorce. She covers a lot of the basics, shows its room for growth in Texas, and has some great quotes from experts that help highlight its advantages over traditional divorce. As Plano-based family lawyer (and past Collaborative Divorce Texas … [Read more...]
New website for newly-rebranded Collaborative Divorce Texas is live
Today, the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas announced at its annual statewide conference that it is changing its name to Collaborative Divorce Texas, effective immediately. The organization has launched a new website, at collaborativedivorcetexas.com, to feature resources for Texas couples looking for a less destructive alternative to traditional courtroom divorce. The non-profit organization, one of the first of its kind in the nation, was founded in 2003 by lawyers, mental health … [Read more...]
2015 Texas Legislative Update – Highlights for Collaborative Lawyers
This blog article is from Angela Pence England and Harry Tindall, partners at Tindall England, PC, a Houston-based law firm specializing in matrimonial and family law. The 2015 Texas Legislative session has come to an end, and while no legislative changes were made to expand collaborative law, there were a record number of changes to the Texas Family Code. Most changes occurred in Title 5 (Parent-Child Relationship) but several changes were also made to Titles 1, 2, and 4. Title 1 … [Read more...]
Jack Emmott and Norma Trusch Receive Awards from Houston Volunteer Lawyers
Norma Trusch and Jack Emmott, two Houston-based family lawyers, Collaborative Law Institute of Texas past and present board members, and collaborative proponents who have spearheaded efforts to bring pro bono collaborative law services to a wider range of Houstonians seeking divorces, were honored this week with the Trailblazer Award from Houston Volunteer Lawyers for their work. This past November, Trusch led the initial training session for Houston Volunteer Lawyers members willing to help … [Read more...]
Sharing (and Singing) a Story of Collaborative Law Success
This article is written by S. Camille Milner, a Denton-based collaborative lawyer and the current Vice-President of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas’ board. At the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas and State Bar of Texas Collaborative Course in Austin earlier this month, the keynote speaker was Barbara McAfee, who is a vocal presence coach and songwriter, and the author of “Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence.” Barbara went through a divorce about ten years ago in … [Read more...]
How Collaborative Law in Texas is Growing Up (and Getting Past its Growing Pains)
This article is from Kevin Fuller, founder of Dallas-based Fuller Mediations, a firm that provides a range of mediation services to settle divorces and other disputes, and a former president of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas. In the last two and a half decades, we have taken Stu Webb’s simple concept of a better way to divorce -- a concept called collaborative divorce -- and wrapped it in all kinds of rules, processes and procedures. We added mental health professionals and … [Read more...]
Preparing for More Difficult Collaborative Cases: What I Learned at the IACP Conference
This article was written by Dr. Honey Sheff, a Dallas-based mental health professional and a board member of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas. I've recently returned from four days in Vancouver, Canada, where I attended the Annual Forum for IACP (the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals), and I've since have had time to process that experience, and the value that being part of the annual conference has added to my professional life. I am fortunate to have attended … [Read more...]
Harry Tindall Wins 2014 Gay G. Cox Collaborative Law Award
The Collaborative Law Institute of Texas has awarded its 2nd ever Gay G. Cox Collaborative Law Award to Harry Tindall, the Houston-based lawyer and longtime collaborative law advocate, who helped lead lobbying efforts to make Texas the first state to adopt a collaborative law statute. The award is the latest honor for Tindall, who began practicing law in 1967, founded his law firm Tindall & Foster, P.C. (now Tindall & England, P.C.) in 1973, and received his board … [Read more...]
Norma Trusch Becomes First Recipient of Gay G. Cox Award
The Collaborative Law Institute of Texas announced earlier this month that Houston lawyer, educator, and longtime collaborative law advocate Norma Levine Trusch has been named the recipient of the first-ever Gay G. Cox Collaborative Law Award to honor the memory of the late Dallas lawyer. The award, first announced at the State Bar of Texas’ Advanced Family Law Conference earlier this month, was established to honor a lawyer, financial professional, or mental health professional who is: a … [Read more...]
How Far We’ve Come! (An MHP Looks Back at Her Path to Collaborative Law)
This blog post is from Syd Sharples, LCSW, an Austin-based Mental Health Professional (MHP) and therapist in Austin. She sits on the Board of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas. It was 2005, and there I was, sitting in the jury box at the Travis County courthouse. In my ongoing efforts to develop my private therapy practice and identify referral sources in the legal community, I’d come across an attorney who was eager to recruit me to a new kind of divorce process. Would I come to a … [Read more...]
