If you’re local to Pittsburgh, you’ve likely been hearing hype surrounding the NFL draft coming to the city next week.  With the influx of an estimated 700,000 spectators, the city is in full preparation mode. Whether the prospect of this many visitors excites or annoys you is a matter I will leave for your consideration.  I, for one, feel a bit of both.  I’m not proud to say that I’m mildly annoyed at the prospect of attempting to navigate the many street closures to get to one of my otherwise-very-accessible favorite neighborhoods to visit and shop. But I’m also excited for so many people to get to know Pittsburgh.  We’re awesome and have so much to offer.  If tourists have a chance to experience the city and its landscape (so many bridges!), architecture, restaurants (hello, pizza scene!), residents, and arts, I’m confident that they will become big fans of Pittsburgh.

I feel similarly about collaborative law.  It’s a lesser known form of conflict resolution than its litigation counterpart.  And it’s maybe overlooked and undervalued. But there are so many benefits to choosing collaborative law, especially in a divorce or custody setting.  I value that what matters to my clients matters to the case.  I can’t tell you how many times I had to say to a client in a litigated divorce or custody that the very important-to-them issue that they were worried about would not and could not be considered by the court.  Judges have a list of factors they are required to consider, and if my client’s concern wasn’t relatable to one of those factors, it couldn’t be considered.  It effectively didn’t matter in the legal case.  It’s very frustrating to tell that to someone who is paying you to help them, and it’s very unfulfilling for the participants.  When I’m handling a collaborative case, the clients’ interests are the starting point for resolution.  And not only does that feel better for all involved, but it leads to better results in the form of happier clients who feel heard and understood.  I’ll discuss some of the many other benefits of collaborative law in another post, but it suffices to say that telling someone that their concerns matter and making that part of the resolution process is one of my favorite things about collaborative law.  It’s the bridges and the food scene of collaboration, so to speak.  If you know, you know.