Is It Necessary for both Parties to have Lawyers in a Collaborative Process?

Collaborative lawyers provide different perspectives about this. Some will agree on a collaborative representation with any lawyer who is willing to relinquish it. Others believe that's unwise and cannot try this. The trust between the lawyers is crucial for the collaborative law process to figure at its best. Until the lawyers can depend upon one another’s representations as regards the full disclosure, as an example, there are often insufficient safeguards against dishonesty by a celebration.

If your lawyer does not have enough confidence that the opposite lawyer will withdraw from representing a dishonest client, it would be not smart to check into a proper collaborative law process relating to disqualification of both lawyers from representation in court if the collaborative law process fails. In the same vein, collaborative law demands special skills from the lawyers, such as skills in guiding negotiations, and in handling conflict.

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