The History of Collaborative Law

Collaborative family law is a process through which lawyers, mediators and clients work together to create legally binding settlements without resorting to litigation. In 1990, Stu Webb, a family law practitioner in Minneapolis, Minnesota announced to his clients and colleagues that he would no longer go to court; he would only represent clients in a participatory negotiation process aimed solely at creative settlements. If the process could not result in settlement, Stu would refer his clients to litigation counsel and withdraw from the matter. This was the start of the collaborative family law movement which quickly spread to Canada.