Hofstra Law to Host Conference on Collaborative Law

Hofstra Law School, Hempstead, N.Y. — On November 19 and 20, 2009, Hofstra Law’s Center for Children, Families and the Law will host a conference titled “Collaborative Law:  Opportunities, Challenges and Questions for the Future.”  To view the webcast, visit law.hofstra.edu/webcast.

Collaborative law is a new and innovative dispute resolution model in which parties retain separate counsel. 

The conference is presented in cooperation with the Uniform Law Commission, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, and marks the first time a law school has hosted a conference focusing exclusively on the innovative practice of collaborative law.

Director of the Center for Children, Families and the Law and Hofstra Professor of Law Andrew Schepard is the reporter for the Uniform Collaborative Law Act, which was approved by the Uniform Law Commission in July 2009.  It will be considered by the ABA House of Delegates in February 2010 and will be available for consideration by state legislatures in mid-2010.  Hofstra Law students participated in drafting the act. 

Topics to be addressed at the November conference include collaborative law in the context of legal ethics and professional responsibility, mediation, arbitration and other ADR processes, access to justice and vulnerable populations, domestic violence, informed consent, legal education, legal fields other than family and divorce law, and interdisciplinary practice. 

“This conference will assess the past, present and future of collaborative law and its implications for the practice of law and public policy,” said Professor Schepard.  “Collaborative lawyers and clients agree in advance that if they cannot resolve their disputes through voluntary disclosure and interest-based negotiation, the lawyers are disqualified from representing the clients in subsequent litigation.  Thousands of lawyers and thousands of clients have participated in collaborative law, along with psychologists and financial planners, mostly in divorce and family disputes. They report high levels of professional and personal satisfaction in their commitment to turn away from the adversarial process.”

Special issues of the Hofstra Law Review and the AFCC’s Family Court Review, published in cooperation with Hofstra Law, will be devoted to collaborative law and the Uniform Collaborative Law Act.