Over the next few weeks, I’m hoping to strike a conversation amongst our Collaborative community challenging whether our practice groups and state and international organizations should just be promoting the Collaborative Process.  

The late Kevin Scudder promoted the idea that we are not Collaborative Professionals, we are Peacemakers.  And good Peacemakers do not get pigeonholed into one Process.  So maybe we shouldn’t just be promoting one Process, Collaborative.

Maybe we should change IACP to IAP, the International Association of Peacemakers.  Our Practice Groups should be Peacemaker Associations, not Collaborative Law Associations.

Maybe we should be called My Peacemaker Team!!

I don’t know of anyone who does just Collaborative.  Many of us will work on matters in a Cooperative Process.  Or maybe we do our Peacemaking through mediation.  Or maybe just via consultation.  I have had many cases in which I help the clients get to a financial resolution before they even hire attorneys.  

We don’t limit our practices to Collaborative.  We are Peacemakers and we mold our services to the best needs of our clients.  Why not mold our Professional Associations in the same fashion?

I encourage other points of view and invite you to write a blog or just write a response on our website.  Send it to me at [email protected].

And stay tuned next Wednesday when I challenge the importance of the disqualification clause.