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UF Collaborative Law Training to teach innovative conflict-resolution skills
July 2, 2009
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Legal, mental health and financial professionals looking to provide clients with win-win solutions without the stress of a trial are invited to attend the Collaborative Law Training Aug. 21-22 on the University of Florida Levin College of Law campus.
Sponsored by the UF Law Center on Children and Families and Institute for Dispute Resolution, this intensive two-day training will provide interdisciplinary professionals with cooperative methods of practice and skills to assist their clients in resolving conflict and reaching a fair and equitable settlement. Attorneys and legal professionals will have the opportunity to earn 15.5 general CLEs, including two ethic credits, and 11.5 marital and family law CLEs. CEU approval for psychologists, mental health and financial professionals is pending.
"Collaborative law is an entirely different way of thinking, acting and talking as compared to the traditional litigation model," said Robert J. Merlin, a Coral Gables attorney experienced in collaborative law. "This training will benefit those who are new to collaborative law litigation as well those of us who are experienced collaborative professionals."
Breakout sessions will give participants the opportunity to focus on skills unique to their specialty as well as joint sessions where trainees will learn how the interdisciplinary, collaborative team-model works. The curriculum will teach each stage of the collaborative process and offer an interactive experience using real life case examples, demonstrations, role plays and team exercises. These interactive sessions will provide non-adversarial strategies and techniques to help clients achieve agreement in a dignified and respectful manner.
"Participants will learn how to handle collaborative matters from the initial consultation with a potential new client through the entry of the final judgment dissolving the parties’ marriage and everything in between," said Robin Davis, UF legal skills professor and director of the Institute for Dispute Resolution. "While this training will focus on family law problems and practice, collaborative law may be applied to any area of the law."
The sessions, expected to meet or exceed IACP standards, will be conducted by Collaborative Law Training Associates Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. The $600 registration fee includes training materials, continental breakfasts, lunches, snacks and a reception. A reduced registration fee of $300 is available for five interested students. For more information about the training contact Robin Davis at 352-273-0807 or DavisR@law.ufl.edu.
To view the agenda or to register for the training, visit http://www.law.ufl.edu/collaborativetraining/. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Kelley Frohlich, senior director, UF Law Alumni and Development, at 352-273-0641 or frohlich@law.ufl.edu.
"I expect all of the participants to leave the training with a better knowledge of the collaborative process and a better understanding of why handling divorces through the collaborative process is not only better for the clients and their children, but why it is better for all of the professionals involved in the process as well," Davis said.
The UF College of Law Center on Children and Families and Institute for Dispute Resolution are committed to educating and training a new generation of practitioners across disciplines in methods of innovative and collaborative conflict resolution in furtherance of advocating for children and families, and for a more peaceable society. For more information on the CCF, visit http://www.law.ufl.edu/centers/childlaw/ to learn more about IDR, visit http://www.law.ufl.edu/idr/.