Collaborative Divorce Lawyers in Phoenix

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You Have a Problem: You Are Facing A Legal Problem Involving Your Family.We Have the Solution: Choose Collaborative Process.
Choose Financial Prosperity. Choose Dignity. Choose Continuity.

Why Moshier Law offers Collaborative Process (Family Court Rule 67.1) where your rights are the number 1 priority the entire way through your family’s legal problems.

You are here because you have a legal problem. You are in the right place. We have your solution. What drives Moshier Law to offer a low-cost, high value legal option to the popular, attorney-fee generating litigated divorce that most lawyers offer? We believe that the right to happiness through the basic access to justice is a fundamental, foundational right. Parents should have the right to parent their children, and children need their parents during the crucial time of family reorganization.

We offer Collaborative Process because it is your basic right to pursue family legal matters with dignity. Dignity has this ripple effect. When you choose the dignified, white glove approach of collaborative process, you will choose a ripple effect of financial prosperity, peace, and clarity. You will be free to focus on what is important. You will be able to take opportunities.

You may be facing your first family court legal case, but we have been through thousands of them. We know every horror story possible. You may benefit from knowing what happens outside of collaborative process. Litigation is like a waterslide. You heave yourself onto the platform for a push that will send you into a tube with rushing water and you cannot reverse. You cannot stop. Others are waiting behind you. You are not getting off the slide. Your attorney cannot stop the slide. No one can stop your court case unless you and the other party – the person opposing you – agree in writing. But, by the time you agree in writing, the two of you may have really fought about a few things. To convince your opposition to become your ally? Entire books are written devoted to this rare yet effective strategy.

The Court system is a system. Individuals don’t have control in a system. The system is actually owned by an unknown private party. Judges don’t even have all the control – the Court of Appeals actually could set aside trial court decisions when an appeal is filed.

When you sign a collaborative commitment agreement, something changes. What’s important to you becomes important to the opposition. A conversation starts and the pushing between you pauses.

In the typical litigation that most lawyers will offer, your wish to hop off the slide is unrealistic and in fact, to even express the feelings you have about the slide may be harmful to your case. You could pay a huge chunk of the other person’s lawyers’ fees if you bring a case you didn’t want to finish. The fees they spent to paint you as a monster who should be denied access to even keeping a fish as a pet are now yours to pay, for doubling back temporarily.

Collaborative Process, by comparison, is where you can express your feelings consistently with what more resembles reality for most people.

We believe Collaborative Process is the only way your children really have access to justice, because for them, the people who would give an arm to save that child’s life are the people making decisions for that child. If a parent is marginalized because they are scrubbed out of the picture, the child is left to trust no one. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child is recognized in multiple countries across Europe, but never ratified by the United States. Collaborative Process ratifies those rights.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….”

My ideal legal bill of rights would include the basic right to justice within the pursuit of happiness. The legal fees for collaborative process are so incredibly affordable and overwhelmingly accessible as compared with litigation. Below, we include the ten rights that accompany Collaborative Process Rule 67.1 in the Arizona Rules of Court for Family Law.

1. You Have The Right To Ask Any Arizona Family Lawyer About Rule 67.1 Collaborative Process.

Every attorney in Arizona can offer a Rule 67.1 Collaborative Divorce. I know this because I was one of the lawyers who helped get this rule passed and formalized. I purposely included the provision that allows any lawyer in Arizona to use Collaborative Process. It used to be that attorneys had to be trained to use Collaborative Process. No lawyer should be able to claim as their excuse for denying you a right to be happy that they need to complete a 24 hour training. While I am trained to use Collaborative Process, I’ve done Collaborative Process cases with lawyers who are not trained. It takes extra time and effort to help them understand the protocol. They are still giving legal advice, and still advocating. Collaborative Process is just a different medium. Also known as collaborative law or collaborative divorce, this is a legal process that allows a couple who have made the decision to terminate their marriage in a collaborative manner with a team of family law professionals with the purpose of achieving a settlements that meet the needs of both parties and their children with the need or the threat of litigation.

When two people in a dispute sign a voluntary contract called a “Collaborative Commitment Agreement” binding each other to the process and disqualifying their respective lawyers tight to represent either party in any future family-related litigation should either one of the parties ever to decide to go back to court.

2. You Have The Right To Anticipate and Plan for the Cost of Your Divorce.

$5,000-15,000 in 95% of cases (subject to disclaimer and qualifier immediately below, so you must keep reading to understand the context for these numbers)

Disclaimer and qualifier: Collaborative Divorce can be reasonably capped at $5,000-15,000 per lawyer in most cases, about 1/3 to 1/10 of the typical non-collaborative law divorce. Now, your case may not be one of those, so until we talk to you, we can’t confirm this $5000-15,000 applies to you. We can confirm that it applies to about 95% of the collaborative law cases we handle. The most expensive Collaborative Divorce I’ve ever handled was $80,000 but I did that divorce for people who could afford the trip to the moon I talk about below. Chances are you’re not at all in this income bracket, because 99.9% of people are below the income bracket that allows them to buy a trip to the moon. But if you are, chances are you still want to keep your money protected from lawyers who need to pay private college tuition at a college your kids will never be able to attend – because you spent all your money on lawyers. No matter who you are, no matter how much you may not like your ex, you probably really love your kids and you cherish what you’ve been able to accomplish financially. You didn’t get there by writing blank checks. A blank check is what non-collaborative divorce is going to be.

If you landed at our website, something drew you. Maybe we’re alike. We like to know what the cost of a thing before we learn more. I don’t want to “learn more” about about the chance to fly to the moon if that is going to cost me everything I own and drive me into debt, with a 30% chance I could never return to Earth, then I am content to see the moon through a telescope.

If you are not in collaborative process, you are in litigation. Sure, lawyers may say “we’ll resolve this out of court” but that’s like standing in your hallway because you agreed to “go outside.” When lawyers tell me “we’ll resolve this out of court” that usually means one of two things: 1. They need me to negotiate against my client to keep their empty promise and/or 2. They have no clue what Collaborative Process is and they know I am not a fun opposing litigator, so they assume due to lack of experience that I will be as dominant in Collaborative Process. Neither are sustainable assumptions, and I do not need to be dominant in Collaborative Process. In the hallway example above, there is no guarantee you’re going to go outside. Any lawyer can assure you that you’ll go outside of court, but the lawyer cannot assure you’ll stay out of court.

If an attorney tells you “Collaborative Process isn’t right for your case,” you owe it to yourself to ask the same questions you’d ask a doctor who tells you to avoid a medical treatment for a serious condition. Divorce is serious. This is your life, your children, and your finances. You’d ask a doctor whether he ever performed the surgery on anyone else, right? Attorneys bill by the hour. Litigation requires more hours. Divorce is an industry. Ask any lawyer who turns you away from using Rule 67.1, however subtly, whether they have ever undertaken a collaborative case.

Saving money for your future is, in many cases, a better option than spending the tens of thousands of dollars you could spend to have someone else decide your life in a courtroom. Having peace should not only be for the wealthy.

3. You Have The Right To Know What Collaborative Divorce Is.

Experiencing a divorce is near easy. It usually involves a myriad of legal actions and plenty of involvement from an attorney as well as the large fees that come with divorces. In Arizona Collaborative Law is codified as Rule 67.1 to help parties settle marital disagreements out of court. The best part: Any attorney in the state of Arizona can use collaborative law in a family law case. Attorneys who want to use collaborative process are usually those with some experience.

You can decide your divorce and your future in a conference room instead of a courtroom. If you have ever been up against an opposing attorney who you didn’t relish, imagine the paradigm shift of that lawyer being part of your legal team. All attorneys and professionals in a collaborative team unite for the common good of the clients. Collaborative divorces in Phoenix & Scottsdale can be completed two to three times faster than conventional litigation in a courthouse, meaning you could be divorced in as little as 60 to 90 days, and you could each save thousands of litigation dollars. People do leave the collaborative process, and sometimes they sit in court for two or three years. Collaborative divorces generally cost 50% to 75% less than traditionally litigated divorces in court.

In a collaborative divorce, couples engage in a form of mediation that is very structured, fully disclosing and on a set pace. They mutually negotiate to come to an agreement with the assistance of collaboratively trained professionals. For this to work, both parties need to be willing to mutually agree to engage the case to the collaborative process. When can you do this? Before you file for a family case – or after – or even before you go to marriage counseling.
Imagine being so unhappy that you decide to engage collaborative lawyers before you even go to counseling. If things don’t go well in counseling, you have a team waiting to avoid any knee jerk reactions that send one of you to a litigation attorney. If things go well in counseling? You have a team waiting for you to draft your settlement agreement – maybe a post-nuptial agreement or a dismissal, depending on what you decide. That’s the point: It’s all about your decisions. It’s your world. Unlike the court system, which you cater to – we work for you.

Collaborative divorce allows you to save time/money and come to an agreement that works for both parties. If you need a collaborative divorce lawyer in Scottsdale or Phoenix? Look no further than Moshier Law and our colleagues at Best Legal Choices.

4. You Have The Right To Know How The Collaborative Divorce Process Works

Each party hires an attorney, typically trained in collaborative law
You individually consult your attorney to explain what you want and your goals
The parties and both collaboratively trained lawyers all sign the Collaborative Commitment Agreement (“CCA”), usually at the first “kickoff” session. All sessions are hosted in one of the lawyers’ private offices. You never have to set foot in a courtroom.
You and your attorney set up recurring group meetings with your spouse and their attorney.
If needed, third-party experts will be invited in to help you reach an agreement. This would often include a “communication specialist” “financially neutral” or “child specialist” depending on the types of disagreements you are facing.
The group sessions continue. Usually, most cases wrap up by the 3rd or 4thsession. Couples rarely find themselves collaborating into a 5th or 6th session. If you are, it’s ok. Being a turtle in a collaborative case is better than a rabbit in litigation. You’ve spent less money, and you’re probably making more real progress.
Once collaboration has been completed, your attorneys will file your final legal papers and settlement agreement with the Court. Then, the judge formally signs off and you are divorced. You will have never seen the inside of a courtroom, nor will the public have access to any of your collaborative details, which remain 100% confidential.

5. You Have The Right To Know Benefits Of Collaborative Divorce For Your Children

Here are the benefits of choosing collaborative divorce vs. conventional litigated divorce including:

Peace in your Divorce: Sometimes wounds never heal from a traditional divorce. People can go back to court forever. Collaborative divorce is usually a more peaceful solution avoiding explosive situations for everyone involved.
Lower Cost of Divorce: The price for a collaborative divorce can be around 50% less than a traditional divorce. Hence, you may have money for college tuition. We want that. [3]
Faster Divorce Process: A drawn-out divorce can be terrible. Not subject to the schedules of lawyers or judges, most collaborations conclude within 120 days of initiation, meaning you’re mentally and emotionally free and available to the people who matter most, more and earlier.
Your Own Solutions: You and your spouse will be able to work on truly tailored solutions for you and your family. Your children have basic rights. Your kids are unique. Their schedules are unique. Their desires and interests are unique. Your kids have friendships they need to pursue. They may have a dog or cat who likes to accompany them back and forth.
Transform your life: Instead of spending your money and life in court, spend it on you, the things that improve your life, your feelings about you and the world around you. A better you is a better family, a better unit, a better version of the world. You are your kids’ whole world. This process buys you choice and freedom to design that world exactly as you choose.

6. You Have The Right To Informed Consent About Collaborative Divorce vs. Traditional Divorce

Here are the benefits of choosing collaborative divorce vs. conventional litigated divorce, because giving informed consent is about knowing your options after knowing all options. If no one tells you about an option, you may not be fully informed.

Traditional Divorce. Traditional divorce involves a legal process where one spouse brings a lawsuit against the other. Traditional divorce is usually painful and lengthy. When things do not go well it can make it impossible for parents to communicate about the future of their children.
Collaborative Divorce. Collaborative divorce is a humane way to bring about the termination of a marriage. Collaborative divorce in private conferences and not in a court and represents a crafted agreement between both parties. It is a more affordable, more comfortable, and more equitable form of divorce vs. traditional divorce. Collaboration

7. You Have The Right To Know Collaborative Divorce Advantages

A customized process compared to traditional divorce;
Costs significantly less than traditional divorce;
A greater level of privacy of your financial and personal affairs;
More flexibility and creative solution opportunities than traditional divorce litigation;
More control over timing – you conduct your sessions on your time table, not the courts;
More support than traditional divorce;
Far less collateral damage to the future co-parenting relationship and the lives of the children;
Collaboration demonstrably reduces post-divorce litigation. [4]

As per Best Legal Choices, “When you want to be fair and to end your marriage with respect, this provides perhaps the best way to do so. A collaborative divorce can help you move forward on a good note and work out your differences together. Even though the marriage did not work, you don’t have to fight at the end.” [5] The professionals at Best Legal Choices are all at different firms, or businesses, and many of us never even talk much unless we have a collaborative law case together. When we share a case, we are 100% professional, trained to do the best job we can for you, and you’ll experience a positive, supportive environment to carry you through this difficult time.

Saving money for your future is, in many cases, a better option than spending the tens of thousands of dollars you could spend to have someone else decide your life in a courtroom.

8. You Have The Right To Know Collaborative Divorce Disadvantages

If you choose an attorney and start a collaborative process case with your ex spouse, you can always terminate the case. But, you cannot have that same lawyer or law firm represent you later in a contested court case against that same ex spouse. You can have that lawyer take all your other ex spouses to court.
Sometimes, people are horrible and misuse the collaborative process, trying to hijack it. Usually when they get called out, they either modify behavior or they want to stop the collaborative process.
That privacy that you get means you cannot talk to your family and friends about the process. You can share the date of your next meeting, but you’re not supposed to share what is happening during the meetings.
You’ll have to sit across the table from your ex and actually engage in a conversation. This is great if you want to have a conversation and they do not. This is seriously uncomfortable when they are the one waiting for the conversation and you have long ago checked out of the relationship. Ultimately, things get worked out in these situations, but we can always tell who has been waiting for years to really finally get their feelings heard.
The professionals all have to align their calendars and you and the other person also have to align your calendars for meetings. A judge can set the hearing and we all have to show up. If your lawyer cannot attend, you’ll likely spend $200-1000 or more rescheduling that one hearing, which can mean you spent an average of $600 to reschedule a hearing about nothing really important that is more of a formality all because your lawyer had something else to do that day. But, most of the time, the hearing happens when it’s set by the judge.
You do not get “a day in court.” You get about 3 hours, 30 minutes of which you’re on the stand testifying and 30 minutes of which you’re being excoriated by another lawyer. If you are emotional in court, no one feels comfortable. If you get emotional in collaborative process, and the other person doesn’t want to experience this, then the person who isn’t having an emotional response has to be on pace with the person catching feelings.
You won’t have court or the other parent as ready scapegoats if your relationship with your kids isn’t ultimately what you hoped.
You get to hide nothing. You have to be transparent. You have to answer questions. You have to account for what you spent at that steakhouse, or whether you had an affair. At some point, there is a limit – no one gets to shame you for claiming to be a vegan but going to a steakhouse, and we don’t get to ask questions about exactly what happens behind closed doors. But, count on whatever you did coming to light, because that’s part of the process.

9. You Have The Right To Leave Collaborative Divorce

You can literally always leave collaborative process. You can fire your lawyer and hire a new lawyer and stay in collaborative process. You are the driver of your own bus, and when you pull over and announce everyone is off the bus, then you call the shots and accept the outcome.

10. You Have The Right to Make Choices That Affect Your Life

Collaborative Process is not some weird, “never tried before, shouldn’t try now” process. Collaborative Process has existed for 40+ years. It is not the attorney favored option, I’ll be honest. Lawyers make more money when they bill more hours in divorces in Arizona. It is easiest to bill a lot of hours with a lot of conflict. Collaborative Process literally has the opposite mission: To create peace. To cause clients to engage in conflict, I would need to use tactics like this:

Isolation: “Don’t listen to….” or “That’s the wrong information…” or “forget what you heard…”

When I am isolated, and only one person (the expert) seems to know the answers, what else can I trust?

Confusion: “You need to [insert drastic steps]” or “We will [high conflict strategy]”

I am receiving information I want to trust from people I should be able to trust, even experts, but the information isn’t consistent.

Afraid: “If you don’t follow my advice, ____”

When I take a step, I do not know if I am taking the right step.

When the stakes are high, these feelings can take over and cause us to go with the tried and true, the War of the Roses. Divorce attorneys who try cases in court are mainstream. Collaborative Process is something you may have never heard of. And if you heard of Collaborative Process, you may not have heard of it as we are describing it now.

But a lot of things are mainstream. Doritos. Red dye no. 3. Eating food that derives from animals that have never seen sunlight. Sulphates in shampoos. Scrolling social media. Four hours of television per day. Child labor to produce mardi gras beads. That butter substitute that goes on movie popcorn is mainstream.

We are the anti-red dye no. 3. We believe that every family has the right to a peaceful and provisional outcome that allows for an abundance of resources. No one should win a zero sum game, because that’s not how a family works. In Collaborative Process, no one gets kicked off the island. We know that reality, we get to acceptance of that reality quickly and we start to strategize not only how to make the island habitable, but how to make it most profitable and possible for you and your family.

1. “Collaborative Law.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative law.
2. Equitable Mediation. “Collaborative Divorce vs Mediation.” Fair, Thorough, Compassionate Divorce Mediation Services, www.equitablemediation.com/blog/collaborative-divorce-vs-mediation.
3. Finnigan, Annie. “The Benefits of a Collaborative Divorce.” Family Circle, Family Circle, 5 Feb. 2010, www.familycircle.com/family-fun/relationships/collaborative-divorce-benefits/.
4. Karen Covy, and Karen CovyKaren Covy. “Pros and Cons of the Collaborative Divorce Process: Is It Right for You?” Karen Covy, 5 Oct. 2017, karencovy.com/pros-and-cons-chicago-collaborative-divorce-process/.
5. Michelle Ogborne. “Collaborative Divorce Disadvantages.” Best Legal Choices, 24 Feb. 2018, bestlegalchoices.com/collaborative-divorce-disadvantages/.

Moshier Law should be your first choice for when you need one of the best lawyers in Arizona. An experienced family law attorney will work with you to obtain the best possible outcome in your situation. We advocate for our clients, so they have the brightest future possible. Text me today about collaborative process at 602-345-0455.

We can protect and advise you regarding: Divorce and property division, child custody, child support, legal guardianship, child visitation, marital home and real estate matters, allocation and valuation of investments, businesses, practices, retirement savings, pensions, personal possessions, valuables, vehicles, closely held businesses, alimony and spousal maintenance, and debt division. To find out how our divorce attorneys can help your matter, schedule your initial case evaluation today.

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Collaborative Divorce & Mediation Lawyers in Phoenix

Working Together for a Fair

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