Collaborative Law
Collaborative Law is a new approach to divorce and child custody proceedings sanctioned by the Texas legislature. It is a procedure in which the parties and their counsel agree in writing to use their best efforts and make a good faith attempt to resolve their dispute on an agreed basis without resorting to judicial intervention except to have the court approve the settlement agreement, make the legal pronouncements, and sign the orders required by law to effectuate the agreement of the parties as the court determines appropriate. The parties' counsel may not serve as litigation counsel except to ask the court to approve the settlement agreement.
A collaborative law agreement must include provisions for:
(1) full and candid exchange of information between the parties and their attorneys as necessary to make a proper evaluation of the case;
(2) suspending court intervention in the dispute while the parties are using collaborative law procedures;
(3) hiring experts, as jointly agreed, to be used in the procedure;
(4) withdrawal of all counsel involved in the collaborative law procedure if the collaborative law procedure does not result in settlement of the dispute; and
(5) other provisions as agreed to by the parties consistent with a good faith effort to collaboratively settle the matter.
If the collaborative law procedures do not result in a settlement on or before the second anniversary of the date that the suit was filed, the court may then set the suit for trial on the regular docket; or dismiss the suit without prejudice.