The Collaborative Law Process

In North Carolina, collaborative law procedures in the family law area have been used since 2003. You can find the act here: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_50/Article_4.pdf.

For other civil matters, North Carolina adopted the Uniform Collaborative Law Act in 2020, in N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-641 et seq. You can find that act here: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_1/Article_53.pdf

So, what is collaborative law? Collaborative law is an entirely voluntary process where parties agree to attempt to resolve their disputes in a negotiated agreement rather than litigation. The parties and their collaboratively trained attorneys all sign a collaborative law participation agreement where they agree, among other things, to make full disclosure of all relevant information to the process. This avoids long and costly discovery battles that may occur in traditional litigation. If experts are needed, the parties jointly hire the experts to give neutral advisory opinions and evaluations. Each party has the benefit of his or her own attorney providing advice at all stages of the process.  With the assistance of attorneys and neutral experts, if any, the parties jointly have one or more meetings and identify the issues, attempting to resolve their dispute.  If the parties reach agreement, the attorneys draft the agreement, and the parties sign the agreement. If agreement is not reached, or one or both parties withdraw from the process, the collaborative attorneys and neutral experts must withdraw from the process as well. 

The emphasis in collaborative law is on problem-solving and is especially useful in situations where the parties want privacy or confidentiality or situations where the parties may continue to have a relationship in the future such as divorcing spouses, business dissolutions, business disputes, employment conflicts, construction disputes, and neighbors. The collaborative law process may be, but is not always, less expensive than traditional litigation. 

This is not legal advice in your situation, but a general overview of the collaborative law process. For more information, consult your own attorney.