T. Boone Pickens knows a thing or two about preserving financial assets. He is one of many financially savvy individuals who have decided on Collaborative Divorce, rather than the “nuclear option” of a court-based divorce. An article on CNBC.com cites Pickens as having saved millions of dollars by choosing the Collaborative Divorce Process. The CNBC article is actually an excellent, comprehensive introduction to collaborative divorce.
Having been a practicing collaborative attorney for a dozen years, I take issue with just one point in the article that says collaborative divorce is not good for couples with power imbalances. The collaborative process – in the hands of skilled collaborative attorneys –– mitigates power imbalances. It is the goal of each attorney in the collaborative process to empower his or her client to assert their needs and concerns to the maximum extent in a respectful way. Collaborative can be a fluid process: if the client is having difficulty expressing his or her needs and concerns, the attorney can be a partisan advocate in that moment, speaking assertively on the client’s behalf, more like a traditional divorce lawyer. In the next moment, when the client is fully empowered to express his or her needs and concerns, the attorney can shift to being a facilitative advocate, letting the client do most of the talking. Here’s the link to the complete CNBC article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102451689?utm_content=12508956&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin#.
© Arnold D. Cribari, 2015
