Top Ten List for Collaborative Advocacy

Victoria Smith and I have identified our ‘top ten’ ways to provide advocacy and stay true to the ‘no matter what’ principles of Collaborative Practice:

1. Establish reasonable expectations as to process and outcome from the initial meeting
2. Continually assess our client’s advocacy needs
3. Discover what our client really wants – dig deep for their process, psychological and substantive interests
4. Get to know the interests and process/advocacy needs of the other spouse
5. Build and maintain trusting professional relationships
6. Focus on process – prepare, use agendas, do homework, debrief, stay positive and respectful
7. Bring the law into the process as a tool and not a weapon
8. Deepen our skills as principled negotiators
9. Don’t take over-give the clients sufficient support to decide the outcome for themselves
10. Be a reflective practitioner-mindful of our own triggers and biases