From the desk of My Collaborative Team President, Edward S. Sachs, ACP

At our Friday Happy Hour, we talked about what a team should do if the clients choose to negotiate outside the Process.  We discussed several cases that participants are involved in where the clients have told the team to stand by while the clients “discuss” settlement on their own.  How long should you let them go?  How do you know that good faith negotiations are occurring?  What if one client is taking advantage or exhorting control over the other?

The consensus advice was that as long as the team (preferably the mental health neutral) does periodic check-ins with the clients to answer the above questions, then we must respect the clients wishes.

How does this square with our Ethical Standards? Obviously, we must adhere to Standard 3.2A that requires Collaborative Professionals to respect each client’s self-determination.  In cases that take this type of turn, I would submit that it is critical to be comfortable that the attorneys each had the opportunity and are comfortable that they established realistic expectations of their client.  This brings the team in compliance with Standard 3.2B.

Once the clients either return with an agreement or just return to the Process it is incumbent on the team to discuss with the clients what was and what was not agreed to in order to access that both clients negotiated in good faith as required under Standard 3.3

Join our virtual Happy Hour every Friday at 4:30pm ET to discuss this topic and many other informative and education Collaborative subjects.