Dividing Family Businesses in Collaborative Divorce

Divorcing couples in Nashville and Middle Tennessee should consider the collaborative approach to help them preserve family  businesses. In this article, Dallas attorney Kevin Fuller notes in part:

There can be many benefits to working through a difficult divorce in the collaborative process. Benefits of the collaborative process include:

• Dividing the wealth of the family in a way that doesn't destroy the source of that wealth or the family members in the process.

• Providing the parties and their business with a more private and confidential atmosphere than the traditional litigation process.

• Helping the parties reach financial solutions that are thoughtfully custom crafted to meet the needs of the family's business interests as well as the parties interests versus a “one-size fits all” approach.

• Legal fees and professional expenses are more efficiently used, fees are spent solely on settlement efforts and not on procedural, evidentiary and other legal technicalities required in the litigation process - the process is far less expensive than contested litigation.

• Settlement conferences and meetings are scheduled when convenient for the parties instead of being centered around the lawyers schedule and the court’s busy docket.

• The collaborative process is less disruptive to the business person and their staff, clients and investors.

• The process can take weeks or months to accomplish a resolution versus years in the litigation process.

For more information for divorcing couples in Nashville and middle Tennessee please see: http://www.dvlawfirm.com/family/collaborative-family-practice

Frists Use Collaborative for Divorce

Frists Work to Make Divorce Less Painful

Written by
Irwin J. Kuhn

Originally published in the print edition of the Nashville Tennessean on September 19, 2012

For more information on collaborative divorce please see: http://www.dvlawfirm.com/family/collaborative-family-practice

Former Sen. Bill Frist and his wife, Karyn, recently announced their divorce. It appears they did something very difficult, very well.

The Frist divorce is notable in a number of ways that will benefit the senator and the soon-to-be former Mrs. Frist greatly in future. It was about as private as can be. There is a minimum of public filings. Mrs. Frist submitted a bare-bones petition asking for Tennessee’s version of no-fault divorce. It was dignified. Sen. Frist simultaneously answered, admitting with sadness that their differences are beyond repair.

One prominent feature is probably unnoticed by most. Sen. Frist announced that he and his wife reached a divorce agreement “through a collaborative law process.” Collaborative divorce is the newest alternative to a painful, long, expensive and public divorce.

How people get divorced makes a difference. Some may accept aggressive tactics as routine. But they only make a difficult situation worse. For example, elevated levels of discord during divorce significantly increase the chances children will come out of divorce with anxiety and depression.

When parties choose to proceed collaboratively, they decide from the beginning that they want something better, a negotiated settlement. So much so that they enter an agreement that the lawyers they hire will not go to court with them if they cannot come to terms. A premium is put on reaching consensus. For the lawyers, the mark of success is reaching a working, negotiated lasting settlement.

In a collaborative session, the parties meet face to face. It can be hard work. Often a neutral third party, trained to keep difficult discussions under control, meets with the couple and their lawyers in an effort to identify goals. Later, the parties propose and discuss options. Neutral financial advisers are often key members of the team.

Working with such a team may sound like an expensive process fit only for the wealthy. 

Seasoned collaborative attorneys disagree. Kevin Fuller, a top Dallas matrimonial lawyer, says he had 56 collaborative cases in a three-year period. Concurrently, he had three cases he described as “go-get-’ems.” He calculated that the fees from the three go-get-’ems exceeded the fees in all 56 collaborative cases combined. Collaborative efficiency is the key.

Collaborative divorce is new to Nashville. The Middle Tennessee Collaborative Alliance (www.mtcollab.com), of which I am vice president, has a number of collaboratively trained lawyers, mental health professionals and financial consultants. Each is committed to high standards. Others hold themselves out as collaborative, but the distinguishing characteristic of a real collaborative divorce is the agreement to not go to court.

Bill and Karyn Frist may have untied the knot. But they will always be connected through their children and grandchildren and common loved ones. The way they chose to divorce will give them a much better chance of putting aside their differences, perhaps long enough one day to dance together at a child’s wedding.

Irwin J. Kuhn, an attorney and mediator, is a member of Dobbins Venick Kuhn & Byassee PLLC. 

Big Dollar Divorce In Dallas

A very wealthy Dallas couple decided on the collaborative approach to divorce after they spent $7.4 million in litigation. The litigation attorney called it a marathon case. The collaborative attorney suggested it should have been a 5K. Here is the story from D Magazine September 2012.

For more information on collaborative divorce please see: http://www.dvlawfirm.com/family/collaborative-family-practice

A Divorce Lawyer Tells His Secrets

The case for collaborative family law in Tennessee could not be made clearer than in this story about what a hard fighting New Jersey divorce lawyer learned from his own divorce. The story is here:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-intelligent-divorce/201201/how-my-divorce-made-me-better-divorce-lawyer

For more information of collaborative divorce in Nashville:
http://www.dvlawfirm.com/family/collaborative-family-practice

Is It Really Collaborative?

How do you know if the divorce lawyer you found on Google is really a collaborative family lawyer? The answer and more information about collaborative divorce and family law can be found here: http://www.dvlawfirm.com/family/collaborative-family-practice

Texas Collaborative Law Blog: 10 Tips for Better Collaborative Communication

Texas Collaborative Law Blog: 10 Tips for Better Collaborative Communication

LOOKING FOR COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE LAWYERS IN THE NASHVILLE AREA

Quite a few lawyers advertising themselves as collaborative lawyers have no training in the area. If you looking for a collaborative divorce in the Nashville area, make sure the attorneys are trained in collaborative law. Make sure they are members of the Middle Tennessee Collaborative Allianace (MTCA). MTCA's web site is mtcollab.com.