"Better a lean agreement that a fat lawsuit."
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Civil Collaborative Law:
The Road Less Traveled by Sherrie Abney Trafford Publishing
book review by Arthur P. Gershman
Collaborative law is a new field of law and its application to civil, as opposed to family law, is even newer. Its intent is to avoid litigation. Abney lays out a thorough and comprehensive guide to its practice. To be effective, the collaborative practice requires a paradigm shift away from confrontation to a mind set in which the parties all share in finding a solution to the dispute. Abney distinguishes positional bargaining from interest based negotiation and illustrates the differences with several examples. Key to the collaborative process is the participation agreement and Abney devotes an entire chapter to it. Two essential elements of the collaboration are that the lawyers are removed from the dispute if no resolution is reached and the confidentiality of all information shared by the parties.
This book is designed as a text book for second or third year law students but could also be used in a variety of situations, such as paralegal training or a one-off continuing legal education (CLE) course. Extensive appendices include forms and every chapter concludes with an assignment for active student participation. In terms of style, and in keeping with its breakthrough nature, Civil Collaborative Law utilizes a non-traditional format. It is neither a case book, such as Lockhart, Kamisar, and Chopper on Constitutional Law nor a horn book such as Prosser on Torts. Abney is an experienced lawyer and law professor, and has taught both lawyers and judges. This book should be useful in training both.