Susan Warda, Partner and Team Leader of the Mills Oakley Sydney Family Law Team recently featured as a guest in the Collaborative Conversations, alongside fellow collaborative professionals, mediator and coach, Bernie Bolger and financial planner, Simeon Levin. Susan is a prominent member of the Sydney collaborative family law profession and was delighted to appear on the podcast, which can be accessed here. (Open the link and select ‘Why choose Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice’, 25 Feb 2021)

Collaborative Family Law is a form of alternative dispute resolution in which parties and their lawyers, and often with other collaboratively trained professionals such as a coach or financial planner or child psychologist, work in a “team” to facilitate family and child focussed discussion between the parties towards reaching a concluded and documented agreement. The process focuses on transparent negotiations based on the interests, needs and concerns of families, rather than an adversarial approach. In fact, the “team” sign a contract at the commencement of the process by which it is agreed that the lawyers will not represent the parties in the event a settlement is not reached and court proceedings subsequently instigated, providing a further incentive for constructive negotiations.

For further information about Collaborative Family Law and how our team can assist, here.