How Do We Define a 'Collaborative Professional'?

The word “collaborative” has many meanings and uses, so many that the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois (“CLII”) and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (“IACP”), which are the professional organizations for Collaborative Professionals in Illinois, could not claim the word or name exclusively.

There are lawyers, financial planners, mental health practitioners, coaches, child specialists, and others involved at various stages of the divorce process who call themselves “collaborative”. However, they may not have gone through the rigorous requirements to be allowed to call themselves Fellows of CLII. This designation has to be renewed annually and ensures a certain level of training and commitment to the philosophy and the process - all to the benefit of you and your spouse.

Collaborative Practice is truly a new way of managing divorce (and other types of legal problems.) It involves what writers and trainers call a “paradigm shift” for the professionals (away from warring and attack and toward cooperation and problem solving.) Those who lack the Fellows label will not have the specialized training and commitment to use this process effectively. Fellows of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois, who are those listed in this website, have met, minimally, the following requirements:

• Two-day basic training in Collaborative Practice
• Additional skills training (which often consists of 40-hour basic mediation training) [check the application form for additional information]

Suggested Questions to Ask a Collaborative Professional

When you are considering retaining a Collaborative Professional and someone is telling you that although they’re not on the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois website, they are “collaborative,” here are the questions you may consider asking them:

• Are you a Fellow of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois?
• Are you a member of International Academy of Collaborative Professionals?
• What other kinds of cases do you have besides those that are Collaborative?
• Do you use CLii’s Participation Agreement for Collaborative cases?
• Do you subscribe to the team approach?
  • Which other professionals besides lawyers do you involve in the process and at what point?
  • How are the other Collaborative professionals for a given team selected?
• How many Collaborative cases have you had (that is, cases where the Participation Agreement was signed by everyone?)
  • How many have you resolved successfully?
  • If some were not resolved successfully, what were the reasons?
• What kinds of ongoing continuing education programs/training have you attended?
• If a case needs to drop out of the Collaboration mode and become a litigated case, how do you handle that?

By asking these questions, you can ensure that you have the professionals you need working to help everyone involved get through this difficult transition more easily.