Collaborative Law Professional

Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. is trained as a Collaborative Law Professional.

The practice of collaborative family law demands unique skills from lawyers—skills in guiding negotiations, and in managing conflict. Mr. Vanarelli is a trained collaborative divorce professional. Collaborative family law provides a structured approach to divorce that addresses many of the concerns not addressed by the traditional court system.

Collaborative law is the formalization of a new settlement model. Inherent in the collaborative law process is the requirement that lawyers learn new models of communication and conflict resolution in order to meet the needs of clients. Lawyers in the collaborative family law case focus on the nature of the conflict and work within a very specific structure to manage the conflict and transform it into collaboration.

The collaborative family law process replaces court rules of evidence and procedure with specific collaborative family law protocols. Clients are given significant opportunity to direct both the process and its outcome. The collaborative law practice offers clients and their spouses or partners the support, protection, and guidance of their own lawyers without going to court. Additionally, collaborative practice allows clients the benefit of child and financial specialists, divorce coaches and other mental health professionals, all working together on a team for the client. Your “collaborative team” will guide and support you during the process.

As a collaborative law attorney, Mr. Vanarelli has received specialized training in interest-based negotiation. His collaborative training allows Mr. Vanarelli to serve his clients as an educator and guide through the Collaborative process. Mr. Vanarelli helps his clients to articulate their interests, and assists in the creation and evaluation of a broad spectrum of options to meet those interests. During the Collaborative Divorce process, Mr. Vanarelli also advocates for his clients, identifies questions and issues that need resolution, provides legal advice, manages conflict, and assists the parties in implementing agreements.