Stanley Tee Solicitors - Collaborative Family Law

What is Collaborative Law?
How does it work?
What if we can’t reach agreement?
Is collaborative law for my situation?
What are the advantages?
Why Tee Collaborative?
About Jane Oakes
Contact Jane Oakes

What is Collaborative Law?

Collaborative Law is a new, even handed approach to relationship breakdown involving where necessary finances and children based on confidential face-to-face negotiation with your partner with the full support of your lawyers alongside you. The aim is to deliver an amicable out-of-court settlement that achieves the best possible outcome for the family and avoids the uncertainty and ill feeling of an imposed solution.

How does it work?

You, your partner and your respective lawyers sit around a table, discuss the issues and agree the terms of your separation or divorce. You set the agenda and the timetable and are in complete control of the whole process. Both solicitors and clients sign an agreement to achieve resolution without recourse to the courts. Once agreement is reached a formal document is prepared for your signatures, which is legally binding and if appropriate a court order is obtained. It is sensible, civilised and tailor-made to your family’s needs.

What if we can’t reach agreement?

If after careful consideration the collaborative process breaks down, you may proceed to file court proceedings in the traditional way, however, your collaborative lawyers will be unable to represent you and you will have to engage new lawyers. However, the advantages of collaborative law give participants every incentive to make the process succeed.

Is collaborative law for my situation?

Collaborative law depends on open, honest communication, a willingness to negotiate and a determination to reach the best resolution for the whole family. Clearly that goes for both parties, and there will be times – say when communication has completely broken down or on-going domestic violence is involved – when the collaborative approach will be ill advised or unsuitable. In your initial consultation we will advise you if the collaborative process is best for your family and your circumstances.

What are the advantages?

Collaborative law is more dignified and less costly – emotionally and usually financially – than the traditional adversarial system. As already mentioned the timing and outcome of the process are in your own hands and not those of a third party whose ruling may prove unsatisfactory for your family. Importantly, all discussions leading to the agreement are totally confidential An amicable parting also helps maintain better relations between ex-partners, and is less traumatic for any children involved.

Why Tee Collaborative?

Stanley Tee have been amongst the first to embrace the new concept of Collaborative Law, and have set up a Cambridge office to practice exclusively in this speciality. Our divisional head, Jane Oakes, is also one of the leading UK authorities and proponents in the field, and she lectures extensively on the subject.
In addition we have long standing experience of traditional family law – especially high net worth and children’s issues and the volume of work we handle in this area accounts for 10% of our work in all categories.

About Jane Oakes

Jane Oakes LLM is the current President of Cambridgeshire and District Law Society and is Chair of Cambridge and West Suffolk Resolution. In practice since 1974, Jane has specialised exclusively in family law since 1988. She has since trained as a mediator and undertaken extensive collaborative law training in the both the UK and North America.

Now specialising totally in collaborative practice for separating couples, having undertaken 50 collaborative cases in the last 3 years, Jane is available to help clients through their family legal problems.