By Marie Nickle 
This process is a vehicle for lawyers to actually provide a meaningful service for clients. And why wouldn’t we? We are so well positioned to do so. People come to us at possibly the worst times of their lives. Their worlds are falling apart. They are stressed, sad, angry and above all fearful of the changes they are going through. We, as lawyers, are often the first they turn to for professional help. They are looking to us to guide them toward a resolution to their conflict that includes peace of mind as well as a legal resolution. After all, who doesn’t want peace of mind? Of course, we can’t advertise it and there are obviously no guarantees, but if even a small degree of peace of mind is attained in the process, we’ve accomplished something for our client. How do we do it? One way is being aware that, when children are involved, maintaining relationships is important for the client. Often the client is too immersed in their emotions to think long term. As such, it is difficult for them to form effective negotiation strategies. Often what is in the best interest of the client is tied directly to what is in the best interests of the entire family. We can help a client form good negotiation strategies by focusing on this principle. It will help keep clients centered in terms of what is really important. A true collaborative client will always agree that a good legal result has to include quality of life. After all, what good is it to bargain away an important relationship in exchange for a legal entitlement? If the relationship isn’t important then it doesn’t matter. But most of the time we are dealing with relationships that are important to the client in the area of family law. To provide truly valuable service we need to include advice that includes not only the legal advice, but how any given legal result will impact upon quality of life for the client going forward. This is what your client will thank you for. Not that I expect it, but I realized that I rarely even received thanks from a client, that is not until I started to practice in the Collaborative Process. Now it happens all the time.
Marie Nickle is a lawyer and trainer of the Collaborative Process.
Marie Nickle, LL.B LL.M AccFM
Lawyer, Mediator, Arbitrator, Trainer
Former panel lawyer for the Office of the Children’s Lawyer
204-1715 Lakeshore Road West
Mississauga, Ontario L5J 1J4
T: 905-823-1232
Email: mariebnickle@bellnet.ca