COLLABORATIVE LAW ALLIANCE
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (CLA/NH)

P.O. Box 964, Londonderry, NH 03053
 


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Collaborative Law is an alternative dispute resolution technique for resolving conflicts and reaching agreements using cooperative strategies rather than adversarial techniques and litigation. It recognizes the need for each party to have an attorney, but avoids the involvement of the Court. Therefore, the parties avoid the difficult, emotional and time-consuming process of litigation. The idea is that the parties will fully cooperate in the disclosure of information, consultation of experts and evaluation of assets.

The difference between the collaborative law approach and the common cooperative settlement approach is that the parties and their attorneys begin the process with a collaborative agreement. (Click here to see a sample of the four-way agreement.) All four parties (the two parties and the two lawyers) agree at the beginning that they will not seek the Court’s assistance or involvement unless all possible attempts have been made to negotiate resolution of the case. During the collaborative process, both parties and their attorneys meet together for informal talks and information sharing. The parties and their attorneys continue to schedule meetings and plan and discuss the issues to be addressed at each meeting until all issues are resolved. If the parties and their counsel are not able to resolve all issues during the collaborative process, the process ends. At that time, both parties must retain new attorneys, as their collaborative attorneys are not permitted to handle the litigation. With this approach, both parties and their attorneys understand from the beginning that there is no advantage to taking an unreasonable position, requiring litigation in the Court. Both parties have an equal disadvantage as they must both retain new lawyers.


"Discourage litigation. Persuade neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often the real loser in fees, expenses, and a waste of time.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Becoming involved in a lawsuit is like ‘being ground to bits in a slow mill; it’s being roasted at a slow fire; it’s being stung to death by a single bee; it’s being drowned by drops; it’s going mad by grains.’ Hundreds and hundreds of people are exposed to such torture each year, some of them actually choosing to initiate the process. They invariably find the experience painful, protracted, and expensive. Yet there remains a queue of victims impatient for their turn . . .”
Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1853
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CLA/NH received initial funding by a grant from the following funds of the New Hampshire Bar Foundation: The Advancement of Justice Fund; The Richard P. Dunfey Fund; and the Honorable William F. Batchhelder Fund.