NCCUSL releases first draft of Collaborative Law Act

CHICAGO — The National
Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) has released
the first draft of its Uniform Collaborative Law Act, for the NCCUSL
committee and other observers.

Prepared by Committee Reporter Andrew
Schepard, with the help of several of his Hofstra Law School students,
the draft was released on August 28, 2007 in anticipation of the October
2007 Drafting Committee meeting in Boise, Idaho.

Created by Stuart G. Webb, collaborative
law and collaborative divorce are a relatively new method of resolving
divorce by having both parties work together. Instead of battling it out
in court litigation, both parties hire collaborative lawyers who agree
to work together toward a mutually agreeable solution. “Collaborative
Law counsel act as advocates and counselors for their clients and bring
their expertise in substantive law to the process,” Schepard’s draft
says. “They encourage joint-planning and problem-solving, rather than
presenting the case in an adversarial framework to a judge or
arbitrator.”

With thirteen sections of the draft, the
Uniform Collaborative Law Act has three stated goals. It aims to
establish “minimum terms and conditions for Collaborative Law
Participation Agreements designed to help ensure that parties
considering participating in Collaborative Law enter into the Process
with informed consent”; it is also intended to be an Act that “describes
the appropriate relationship of Collaborative Law with the justice
system” and “meets the reasonable expectations of parties and counsel
for confidentiality of communications during the Collaborative Law
Process by incorporating evidentiary privilege provisions based on those
provided for mediation communications in the Uniform Mediation Act.”

Composed of practicing lawyers, judges,
and law professors, NCCUSL conceives and drafts legislation to clarify
and stabilize critical areas of state statutory laws. Since 1892, this
non-profit, unincorporated association has debated, discussed, and
drafted new acts via commissioners appointed by each U.S. state.

The draft of the Act is available to read online at www.law.upenn.edu/bll/archives/ulc/ucla/oct2007draft.htm.