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 president) Curtis Harrison said in the article, “Collaborative law is rooted in interest-based negotiations,” he said. “We’re there to meet everyone’s needs. It’s a wonderful tool.”
Harrison also detailed one of the most important developments for the newly-rebranded Collaborative Divorce Texas -- the certification of trained collaborative professionals by the organization. This will allow our collaboratively-trained professionals to showcase that they're qualified and trained to help clients through a collaborative divorce.
The key section of the article notes:
Beyond receiving training in collaborative law, the group will peer review an applicant’s education and experience, and then award a level one badge, reflecting a credentialed practitioner in collaborative law, or level two for a master’s level practitioner, Harrison said.
This will help separate those who receive training from those who actually practice the process, he said.
“There are a lot of lookalikes who put the collaborative law designation on their website, but then tell clients to go to court,” he said. “The new credential badges will show whether they are applying their knowledge and demonstrate experience.”
The certification will soon be available on the Collaborative Divorce Texas website. In the meantime, the site has this fantastic resource page for Texans looking at collaborative divorce as an alternative to traditional divorce. It includes questions that one should ask when determining if a lawyer claiming to be collaborative really is. It also includes a searchable database for all current Collaborative Divorce Texas members.
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