Related Organizations:
- Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
- International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
- New York Association of Collaborative Professionals
- New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID)
- Transforming Legal Practice
- Contemplative Law Program
- International Partners In Understanding
Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) is an applied research center committed to improving the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution. Put most simply, PON is working to change the way people, organizations, and nations resolve their disputes — shifting the process from “win-lose” outcomes to “all-gain” solutions.
PON is an inter-university consortium involving faculty, graduate students, and administrative staff from a range of disciplines and professional schools at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Simmons College, and other Boston-area schools.
Major goals of the Program on Negotiation are to:
- design, implement, and evaluate better dispute resolution practices;
- promote collaboration and communication among practitioners and scholars;
- develop educational programs and materials for instruction in negotiation and dispute resolution; and
- increase public awareness and understanding of successful conflict resolution efforts.
A popular training opportunity is provided by Harvard Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers (PIL). PON core faculty Roger Fisher, Robert Mnookin, Bruce Patton, and Frank E.A. Sander teach in the week- long beginning and advanced negotiation and mediation workshops offered as part of the Law School’s “summer program.” Despite its name, it is not necessary to be a lawyer to enroll in PIL. For courses utilizing the Understanding Based Mediation Model, please refer to Harvard Program of Instruction for Lawyers.
International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
IACP is the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, an international community of legal, mental health and financial professionals working in concert to create client-centered processes for resolving conflict. IACP serves members, influences the collaborative community, and benefits the public. They are committed to fostering professional excellence in conflict resolution through Collaborative Practice. They do this by protecting the essentials of Collaborative Practice, expanding Collaborative Practice worldwide, and providing a central resource for education, networking and standards of practice.
The heart of Collaborative Practice is to offer the parties the support, protection, and guidance of their own lawyers without going to court. Additionally, Collaborative Practice encourages parties to work with other professionals on a team such as collaborative coaches, financial specialists and child specialists.
In Collaborative Practice, the core elements which form the contractual commitments are to negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement without having courts decide issues, maintain open communication and information sharing and create shared solutions acknowledging the highest priorities of all.
You can visit their website, here.
New York Association of Collaborative Professionals
Upcoming Trainings:
The Value of Collaborative Practice for LGBTQ Families and Relationships
When: February 2, 2012
Where: Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave. NYC
Registration 8:30 am Conference 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
SPACE IS LIMITED. REGISTER NOW.
Registration fee: $250 breakfast and lunch included. Reception following conference.
Register online at The-Value-of-Collaborative-Practice-for-LGBTQ-Families-and-Relationships
Basic Collaborative Practice Training: Developing Excellence in Interdisciplinary Team Practice
When: March 1, 2, and 5 2012 (registration 8:30 am)
Where: Westchester County , NY
Registration fee $975
Register on line at : Basic Collaborative Practice Training
The Center for Understanding in Conflict works closely with the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals to encourage and develop the practice of Collaborative Divorce in New York.
Collaborative Divorce is a matrimonial dispute resolution process in which both parties and counsel commit themselves to resolving their differences fairly and equitably without resort or threat of resort to the courts. In recent years, more and more matrimonial attorneys and divorcing couples have been drawn to this process as a cost-efficient and respectful way of reaching agreements that work for both of the parties and their families. Counsel in the Collaborative Process focus their efforts and skills on creative problem solving and on obtaining win/win results which aim to meet the interests of both parties and maximize the overall result.
Collaborative Law has become an increasingly popular choice for divorcing couples because:
- The adversarial judicial system is often ill equipped to handle the emotionally charged process of dissolving a marriage.
- Many divorcing couples want to avoid litigation, yet are distrustful and/or fearful of the mediation process.
- The attorneys representing the parties in the Collaborative process agree to assist them to resolve the issues using cooperative strategies rather than adversarial techniques and litigation.
- The Collaborative model differs from traditional representation in ways designed to create a positive context for settlement.
- Lawyers practicing in the Collaborative process agree in advance to remove litigation as an option.
- Collaborative attorneys do not use the threat of litigation as a negotiating tool.
- The couples can have the support of the Collaborative team, which is a group of professionals, each skilled in their own area of expertise, working for the benefit of the clients and the clients’ family. It is not unlike a medical team in which different specialists focus on the care and health needs of the patient. In addition to a Collaborative attorney for each spouse, the team can include a financial professional, divorce coaches (one for each spouse or one for both spouses) and a child specialist.
The Collaborative Team
Whereas traditional divorce often involves exchanging demands and accusations, the Collaborative approach proceeds on the basis of mutual cooperation and problem solving. Some typical characteristics of the Collaborative approach are:
- The team seeks to understand what is important for each client and the family.
- The team offers targeted legal, mental health and financial support.
- The team brainstorms, suspends judgment, and refrains from negativity.
- The focus is on problem solving and exploring options, allowing for creativity.
- Ultimatums, roadblocks, barriers and negative criticism are removed.
- The common goal is to support the parties in reaching settlement.
The divorcing spouses are an integral part of the team. The Collaborative approach benefits them in that spouses trade helplessness and lack of control for knowledge and empowerment. The team helps reduce the stress of the unknown.
Professionals who practice in the Collaborative model are committed to developing conflict resolution skill sets much different from those utilized in a settlement model or adversarial practice. The Center is currently creating training programs designed to further the development of these skills.
For further information please visit our website:
www.nycollaborativeprofessionals.org
New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID)
Advanced Mediation Skills Development Practicum
Transforming Legal Practice
Steve Keeva, an Editor with the ABA, wrote a terrific book, Transforming Practices, about lawyers who are trying to integrate a greater sense of meaning into their work. The enthusiastic reception of the book by so many in the profession led Steve to create a website of the same name. He describes TransformingPractices.com as both a resource and an oasis for busy lawyers who sense that there must be a better way to live a life in the law, but need some inspiration and guidance to find it. It offers articles, excerpts, concepts and exercises that can help bring deeper meaning and more pleasure to legal work.
Contemplative Law Program
The Law Program of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society explores the relationship of contemplative practice, which fosters and encourages attention to the present moment, to the life of the law. The Law Program seeks to engage law students, legal academics, and others in the law in a meaningful and passionate exploration of the role of contemplative practice in contemporary legal practice and legal education. To explore the nexus between contemplative practices and the life of the law, the Law Program hosts retreats, conducts research, and acts as a national clearinghouse for pertinent information and activities. The Law Program hosted the Yale Law School Retreat in October 1998. Twenty students met for five days of instruction in meditation and yoga, coupled with informal, interactive discussions and exercises on law-related themes. In light of the success of this retreat, the Law Program hosted a second annual Yale Retreat in October 1999 and additional retreats in the spring and fall of 2000. The Center is also actively encouraging law school professors to develop relevant course offerings and curricula, in law school clinics and classrooms, linking contemplative practice to the law.
The Center is considering hosting similar retreats for other law schools around the country, as well as law retreats for judges, practicing attorneys, mediators, and other legal professionals. One-day workshops, lecture-presentations, “mini-retreats,” and programs designed for private law firms are also under consideration.
The Center is committed to examining and developing the theoretical and intellectual underpinnings of the relationship of contemplative practice to the life of the law. Toward that end, the Law Program will conduct research on the application of contemplative practice to current legal theory. This research will seek to establish a more comprehensive understanding of the law.
The Program also serves as a national clearinghouse for related information and activities, and strives to play a positive and supportive role in the dynamic unfolding of interest in the deep wisdom of contemplative practices and the complex demands of the law in contemporary society.
For more information contact:
The Center for Contemplative Mind In Society
199 Main Street, 3rd Floor
Northampton, MA 01060
Tel: 413-582-0071
Fax: 413-582-1330
International Partners In Understanding
Trainings in Germany:
Heidelburg Institute for Mediation
Projekt “Gerichtsnahe Mediation in Niedersachsen”
The European Association of Judges for Mediation.
