Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin

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About us - Who We Are

The Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin, Inc. (CFLCW) is an association of lawyers, mental health professionals and financial advisors who work together to learn, practice and promote a collaborative process to solve problems and peacefully resolve family law issues. We formed in 2000 when divorce professionals recognized that, for most clients, a contested family law case is an unnecessarily negative experience - regardless of the legal outcome.

divorce in wisconsin

CFLCW is a statewide association dedicated to the Collaborative process and practice. We are organized as a non-profit group focused upon educating the public about the collaborative process.

There are several types of divorce proceedings and you can read about them in detail here.

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You may leave a suggestion or reaction to our website by visiting our Public Comment page.

The Council cannot respond to specific legal situations or questions. Please note our disclaimer here.

what is collaborative law

Collaborative family law is a unique, reasonable approach to handling a divorce or other family law matter and is founded on three core principles:

a written pledge not to fight in court and withdrawal of the hired professionals if either party ultimately chooses to fight in court
open communication between the parties with an honest and good faith exchange of information,
and negotiations that lead to a mutually acceptable settlement, taking into account the highest priorities of all family members.

When you engage in the collaborative process, you use specially trained lawyers as well as mental health and financial specialists to maximize the positive outcomes for every member of your family.

It's a productive process for divorcing couples and those wanting legal separations, annulments, pre- or post-nuptial agreements, the dissolution of non-marital and same-sex relationships, and for paternity cases. The issues addressed in collaborative cases are the same ones addressed in traditional litigation cases: child custody and placement, property valuation and division, child support, maintenance (alimony), taxes, and insurance.

why collaboration makes sense

By their very nature, divorce and other family law disputes are emotionally traumatic. Mental health practitioners are all too familiar with the severe and long lasting wounds that a high conflict family law matter can inflict on parents and their children.

Many competent family law attorneys try to conduct their practice in a way that minimizes the harmful effects. However, because traditional divorce often involves litigation, attorneys know the case may be fought in court. So it's the attorney's job to use the litigation tools and negotiation strategies available to him or her to win the case. Too often these tools become weapons that inflict wounds.

In addition to emotional and psychological costs, litigated family law cases usually are expensive, especially cases that result in a contested hearing or trial. Surprisingly, about 98 percent of all litigated cases settle, which means the court doesn't have to decide the outcome because you've reached an agreement.

But these settlements come only after months of costly conflict, the hiring of polarized experts and the expense of preparing for a trial that is unlikely to occur. These settlement agreements are often reached just before the scheduled trial date and under time constraints - often literally on the courthouse steps - and leave clients dissatisfied with the settlement and prone to go back to court.

And the cycle continues.

As professionals we are dedicated to changing that cycle. Our goal is simple: transform the way legal issues are resolved through a peaceful and respectful collaborative process that protects everyone's interests

We urge you to review this process through the information presented here, beginning with How it Works