Virginia Code 20-179: Appropriateness of collaborative law process
Before a prospective party signs a collaborative law participation agreement, a prospective collaborative lawyer shall:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 20-179
- Collaborative law participation agreement: means an agreement by persons to participate in a collaborative law process. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Collaborative law process: means a procedure intended to resolve a collaborative matter without intervention by a tribunal in which persons sign a collaborative law participation agreement and are represented by collaborative lawyers. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Collaborative lawyer: means a lawyer who represents a party in a collaborative law process. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Collaborative matter: means a dispute, transaction, claim, problem, or issue for resolution that is described in a collaborative law participation agreement and that is between family or household members or arises under the family or domestic relations laws of the Commonwealth, including (i) marriage, divorce, dissolution, annulment, and property distribution; (ii) child custody, visitation, and parenting time; (iii) alimony, spousal support, maintenance, and child support; (iv) adoption; (v) parentage; and (vi) negotiation or enforcement of premarital, marital, and separation agreements. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Law firm: means (i) lawyers who practice law together in a partnership, professional corporation, sole proprietorship, limited liability company, or association or (ii) lawyers employed together in (a) a legal services organization or (b) the legal department of another organization. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Party: means a person who signs a collaborative law participation agreement and whose consent is necessary to resolve a collaborative matter. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Proceeding: means a judicial, administrative, arbitral, or other adjudicative process before a tribunal, including related prehearing and post-hearing motions, conferences, and discovery. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
- Prospective party: means a person who discusses with a prospective collaborative lawyer the possibility of signing a collaborative law participation agreement. See Virginia Code 20-168
- Tribunal: means a court, arbitrator, administrative agency, or other body acting in an adjudicative capacity that, after presentation of evidence or legal argument, has jurisdiction to render a decision affecting a party's interest in a matter. See Virginia Code 20-168
1. Assess with the prospective party factors the lawyer reasonably believes relate to whether a collaborative law process is appropriate for the prospective party’s matter;
2. Provide the prospective party with information that the lawyer reasonably believes is sufficient for the party to make an informed decision about the material benefits and risks of a collaborative law process as compared to the material benefits and risks of other reasonably available alternatives for resolving the proposed collaborative matter, such as litigation, mediation, arbitration, or expert evaluation; and
3. Advise the prospective party that:
a. After signing a collaborative law participation agreement, if a party initiates a proceeding or seeks tribunal intervention in a pending proceeding related to the collaborative matter, the collaborative law process terminates;
b. Participation in a collaborative law process is voluntary, and any party has the right to unilaterally terminate a collaborative law process with or without cause; and
c. The collaborative lawyer and any lawyer in a law firm with which the collaborative lawyer is associated may not appear before a tribunal to represent a party in a proceeding related to the collaborative matter, except as authorized by subsection C of § 20-175 or by § 20-176.
2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 346.