Collaborative law is a dispute resolution technique that differs substantially from mediation or arbitration.

In collaborative law, the parties to the dispute and their lawyers work toward a solution together. If the parties are unable to resolve their issues and go to court, the lawyers for the collaboration disengage. If the parties abandon the attempt at collaboration, they must find new counsel.

The following article provides an excellent discussion of collaborative law and whether it will be beneficial for your case…
http://www.abanet.org/media/youraba/200806/article05.html

In this divorce case, the parties and attorneys met for depositions. Before the depositions began they were able to work out a settlement. They read the agreement on the record with the court reporter that was present.

However, this is not good enough to make the agreement enforceable under Arkansas law. Arkansas law requires that the agreement be read into the record “in open court” and the Court of Appeals decided that a deposition was not open court. The agreement was invalidated.

Here’s the link to the case…
http://courts.arkansas.gov/opinions/2008a/20080618/ca07-850.pdf

HIPAA was enacted to protect your health information from being disclosed to unauthorized parties. Sometimes it gets disclosed to such parties anyway. Has this happened to you? If so, here’s a link that will help you with filing a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services.

http://www.healthprivacy.org/usr_doc/Privacy_Complaint_Form.pdf

The actions of step-parents are relevant evidence in change of custody cases. The step-parent is part of the child’s home environment and therefore contributes to that environment - for better or worse.

In this case, the mother lost custody of the children to her ex-husband largely as a result of the actions of her new spouse. The new spouse was abusive towards her including one instance where he intentionally stabbed her with a barbecue fork in the stomach while he was high on methamphetamine - and while she was 8 months pregnant. He also told the children “to enjoy their time with their mother because they were going to living with their daddy forever.” She had filed for divorce from him but reconciled with him about a month after the altercation. The trial court felt that this type of behavior put the children in harm’s way and subjected them to psychological abuse at a minimum. She divorced the new spouse 2 years later but that was not enough to keep the trial court from taking custody of the children away from her.

She appealed the decision but it was upheld by the Court of Appeals. Here’s a link to the decision…http://courts.arkansas.gov/unpublished/2008a/20080618/ca07-419.pdf

Many clients feel that their attorney is not handling their case properly. The best thing to do is schedule an appointment with the attorney and let your thoughts be known. The attorney can’t fix what he doesn’t know is broken.

Still having problems? Or has your case been completed and you think your attorney has acted negligently or improperly? You may need to take your concerns to the group that oversees attorney ethics. In Arkansas it is called the Committee on Professional Conduct. Here’s a link to the Committee’s website….http://courts.arkansas.gov/professional_conduct/

***Note: Formal complaints against attorneys are a serious matter. I would ask that you talk with your attorney about your concerns first to see if there is any type of suitable resolution before you file a formal complaint.

We’ve all heard about the housing crunch and the poor status of the economy. Lenders have been getting aggressive with their foreclosure actions against homeowners. Homeowners are continuing to seek legal advice - and they are fighting back with much more regularity.

Check out this article…
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/homing_in_on_foreclosure