about our
association.
OUR MISSION:
To provide divorcing families with the legal, emotional and financial support they need to make lasting, respectful decisions regarding the reorganization of their family.
The HVCDDRA expands the alternative to people when they choose to divorce. Because we truly care not only about the “law”, but also about the emotional and financial health of all parties to a divorce and their children, we are devoted to working hard to find solutions that will benefit the entire family system.
Our members are mature practitioners of each profession – lawyers, financial neutrals and mental health neutrals — who realize that good planning at the time of divorce is critical to the healthy development of the children of divorce and the financial security of the entire family. With the help of our teams, over 95% of the couples who attempt collaboration reach agreements that they believe are satisfactory.
After nearly twenty years of experience, our collaborative community is one of the most sophisticated in the country. We were the first interdisciplinary group in New York State, and our members have trained many of the collaborative lawyers, mental health professionals and financial professionals in the region; we have also been international presenters.
Whether you are looking for a peaceful strategy to solve problems that have arisen, or a professional looking for a dynamic, committed group of colleagues, we are eager to provide you with as much information as you need. We hope our website will answer most of your immediate questions, but any of our members will be happy to discuss this with you further.
OUR HISTORY:
Our organization formed in 2001 as one of the first interdisciplinary collaborative divorce groups in the country. We have been continuously providing both divorce and civil collaborative interdisciplinary services since, and have handled cases on behalf of many different kinds of families, from families with paycheck(s), a home, a pension, two cars and two children to extremely high net worth families with international businesses and complex financial structures.
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Prior to 2000, the founding members of the HVCDDRA were working as divorce lawyers, divorce mediators, divorce financial planners and divorce related family therapists. Many felt that the existing legal system exacerbated the difficulties couples have when splitting up and often failed to protect the children in the divorce process; even the divorce mediation process, which was designed to be a more supportive system for helping families, did not always provide as much support as some families need.
In 1990, Stuart Webb, a divorce lawyer in Minnesota, became disillusioned with the use of the judicial system in divorce cases, and wrote a letter to Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice, Sandy Keith describing this new “collaborative” process. In the letter he asks: Why not create an intentional settlement climate that encourages cooperation and creative alternatives? He said he would be willing to negotiate solutions to divorce cases with his colleagues, if they would agree in advance that if they did not succeed in helping the couple reach a mutually acceptable agreement, they would disqualify themselves from going to court. This was a novel idea — lawyers intentionally taking court off the table at the beginning of a case. It turned out that doing so vastly increases the likelihood that couples will be able to find a mutually acceptable agreement with the support of their lawyers.
Because of our commitment to the interdisciplinary process, our collaborative divorce cases always include one lawyer for each party, a neutral mental health professional and a neutral financial professional. Sometimes we use a child specialist as well. The team works together to create a safe environment for the couple to explore and develop a plan that all parties find satisfactory.
It became apparent that some civil disputes could also benefit from this approach, especially situations that involve family members or people who want to continue to have a positive relationship after the dispute has been resolved. For example, small businesses, family businesses, elder care decision making, employment disputes, estate conflicts and other matters all involve people who may need assistance to solve problems that arise, but do not want the “slash and burn” mentality that so often seems to accompany litigation. Some of our members also provide collaborative assistance in civil disputes using this approach.
HVCDDRA members have been accepting collaborative cases that involve people who have an ongoing relationship since 2002. A not-for-profit membership organization, our members are not in business together, but they have agreed to use certain protocols to assist people in fashioning respectful agreements in disputed situations. We are also members of the International Association of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), and many of our members are national and international trainers of other collaborative professionals.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS:
Professional members of the Hudson Valley Collaborative Divorce and Dispute Resolution Association (HVCDDRA) are among the most highly trained and experienced Collaborative practitioners world-wide. HVCDDRA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of practice through continued education and training, and legal, mental health, and financials professionals must meet its stringent educational and training requirements for membership.
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Professionals must have completed extensive Collaborative Practice and Mediation trainings in order to qualify for membership, and must certify completion of many hours of continuing education requirements in their fields annually to maintain membership. In addition, members must meet the Association’s conflict resolution skills training requirements annually. Our legal, mental health, and financial professionals work and train closely together which allows for enhanced and integrated service that addresses the needs of the entire family.
