Uncontested Divorce

Contested Divorce

Collaborative Divorce

What is a Cooperative Divorce?

A Cooperative Divorce is for thinking spouses and is a good alternative dispute resolution for divorcing couples who want smart legal representation and want to stay out of court but not start over if court cannot be avoided. The key to a Cooperative Divorce is both spouses selecting attorneys who have pledged to practice in a Cooperative manner and have demonstrated that they give their clients high quality representation with the client's and their children's best interest always in mind. Cooperative Divorce attorneys pledge the following:

I will try to advise my Client of all reasonable alternatives.
I will try to always do what is in my client's and their children's best interest.
I will try to keep my Client's requests and expectations reasonable.
I will try to fully cooperate and communicate with the opposing attorney in a timely manner.
I will try to avoid litigation by negotiating instead, until all hope of settlement is gone.
I will ask each client of mine to sign a Cooperative Agreement.

In a Cooperative Divorce, couples and their attorneys agree (but not in a binding contract) to: (1) keep communicating; (2) share information; and (3) negotiate mutually acceptable settlements out of court if possible. Couples and their attorneys agree in advance to try not to litigate. However all work done by both attorneys is useful in preparing for court if a settlement is not possible. If the odds are 50/50 that either spouse may ignore the Cooperative Agreement; then the chance of going to court is 75%. However In such cases, no effort and money spent is wasted because the divorce process merely continues.

A list of some other Cooperative Divorce Attorneys in the Reno area is available upon request from this office - call 324-7979.