How to Find the Best Collaborative Lawyer in Tarrant County (or anywhere!)

For some of us, our competitive nature won't give up, even if we decide to participate in the Collaborative process. That nature shows itself when someone commits to doing a Collaborative divorce, and then begins to search for "the best Collaborative lawyer" in Tarrant County, or wherever they live. If that's what you're looking for, I have bad news and good news for you. The bad news is that it's hard to really tell who "the best" is. The good news is that almost all Collaborative lawyers are really good at what we do, and in addition, we can all get help by using mental health professionals and financial professionals. Let me elaborate.

First, the bad news: It's hard to tell which Collaborative attorneys will be the best. Just like in litigation, there's no overall objective ranking service to indicate who's the best. The truth is that an excellent Collaborative attorney may be a great match for you, but not work out well for your friend or neighbor or relative. The opposite is also true. An attorney who is great for someone else may not work out well for you. It really comes down to chemistry.

There are several things you can do to find a Collaborative attorney who would work well with you.

• Ask about their experience. Attorneys can tell you about the number of cases they have handled and they can tell you whether they have worked cases with issues similar to yours.
• Find out how much training the attorney has had, and whether they have recently had training. Collaborative Law is such a new process that attorneys need a lot of training and need to refresh their Collaborative training at least once a year.
• Another indicator to check on is whether the attorney has trained other attorneys in Collaborative Law or spoken to different groups about it.
• Ask the attorney to explain how the Collaborative process works. The attorney should be able to clearly explain the process and discuss how your issues could be resolved with the process.
• Make sure the attorney's communication style is comfortable for you. Everyone has their own communication needs and style. Divorce is a stressful enough time just by itself. Be sure that you feel good and feel listened to when you talk with your attorney.
• Recommendations from friends, attorneys and other professionals can be helpful as a starting point -- just be careful to consider the comments above and evaluate each attorney.
• You and your spouse do not need to hire an attorney just because that attorney is in the same practice group with the first attorney selected. All attorneys in Tarrant County represent clients from all over the county, so you can choose anyone you wish.

Now, the good news: we've got backup. In Tarrant County, there are many well trained Collaborative attorneys and almost all Collaborative divorces are worked as a team effort. We have learned over the years that the process works much better when we bring in a mental health specialist and a financial specialist at the beginning. The mental health professional meets with the parties before the first joint meeting and that helps the parties know what to expect. It also helps all the professionals learn about the issues that are important to both sides.

Also, don't worry if both the attorneys don't have the same level of experience in the Collaborative process. As long as both attorneys have at least a two-day basic training and some recent training, there should be no problem. Part of the Participation Agreement that both the parties and their attorneys sign at the outset says that neither party will take advantage of each other or hide information or fail to openly and honestly cooperate. (There's no such agreement in litigated cases.) That means that if an attorney made a mistake in the case, the other attorney would help the first attorney correct it. As long as at least one attorney is experienced, the Collaborative process should work out.

The bottom line: There is no need to find the single best Collaborative attorney, which is lucky because there's no way to determine who is the best. But there are number of things that parties can check out about prospective attorneys when deciding who to hire. In the end, chemistry may be the most important ingredient in choosing the right Collaborative attorney for you. Pay attention to your gut feeling and how well the attorney communicates with you. Trust your attorney, but also take advantage of the other professionals involved in your case. They all want you to be successful.