Client Satisfaction During the Collaborative Process
A separation is so much more than dividing assets, time, and responsibilities. One of the reasons we practice collaborative law is that we believe the legal method a family chooses during a divorce contributes significantly to the future of that family and we’ve seen such positive futures come out of Collaborative Practice.
What do collaborative clients have to say about the process?
If you’re considering whether or not collaborative law is right for you, you might be interested in hearing from the families who have actually gone through the process. In a survey by the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, they asked a range of family law clients to answer questions about how satisfied they were with their experience participating in Collaborative Practice. They were asked about the results of the legal method, their feelings towards their collaborative professionals, and their satisfaction with the actual collaborative process.
The overall results were extremely positive. 75% said that they were satisfied with the outcome of their collaboration and everyone said that they were either extremely or somewhat satisfied with the performance of their own lawyer. One of the most interesting findings, in our opinion, was that even more people were satisfied with the collaborative process than with the outcome.
Collaborative Practice Clients See Value in the Process
As we mentioned before, the results of a divorce are important and we are glad to see that this survey shows high levels of client satisfaction with the outcome; however, we aren’t surprised to see that even more people recognize the way that Collaborative Practice helped their family during the process of a divorce. Because collaborative law is so client focused, we find that both spouses truly feel like their voices are being heard and that the process helps them move forward.
More specifically, these are some of the aspects of the collaborative process people expressed satisfaction in:
- Respectfulness of the collaborative process
- The disclosure of information in their case
- How free clients felt to express themselves in their case
- The opportunity to address concerns directly with the other participant
- Meetings scheduled to accommodate clients’ schedules
- How well the process focused on concerns important to the client
- Restructuring of their family in a constructive way
- The degree of control the client had over the process
- The degree of collaboration in the client’s case
- Maintaining a constructive/healthy relationship with the other participant
- The length of time of joint meetings
- The minimization of stress
- The efficiency with which the client’s case was handled
(Linda Wray, American Bar)
Each of these items, even the seemingly simple ones, can significantly affect the life of your family during a separation. As collaborative professionals, we know the way that “the minimization of stress” during this difficult time improves your quality of life or that “the opportunity to address concerns directly with the other participant” sets parents up for healthy communication post-separation. These products of a collaborative approach provide the kinds of tools a family will use as they move forward after the process is over.
If you would like to learn more about the collaborative process, please visit What is Collaborative Practice?
