Material girl paves way for collaborative family law
Monday 12 January 2009 11:34 AM
Why was there no lengthy court battles, no public scrutiny, no slanging matches, why did the proverbial gloves remain firmly on with Madonna and Guy Ritchie? Collaborative Family Law, that is why!
The reported settlement of £49m to her Husband Guy Ritchie achieved through the Collaborative Process shows just how a divorce should be done.
Andrew Woolley, senior partner at “virtual” law firm Woolley & Co, which conducts much of its work online and over the phone, said, “Collaborative law is the in-method of reaching divorce agreements without going to Court. The concept is based around the core idea that both the parties show commitment to settle things by way of face-to-face meetings with each other and their respective lawyers. It has undoubtedly saved the celebrity couple many thousands of pounds in Court costs and allowed them to retain their dignity.”
“The reported settlement of £49m to Madonna’s husband Guy Ritchie achieved through the Collaborative Process shows just how a divorce should be done. Whilst the high profile mud-slinging type celebrity divorces make great headlines, let’s hope this divorce for Madonna and Ritchie will give a boost to the public’s awareness of the Collaborative process, a process that is strongly backed and supported by this Country’s top Judiciary.”
Collaborative family lawyer Sue Harwood, of Woolley & Co, said, “Collaborative law enables each party to appoint their own lawyer but instead of conducting negotiations by letter or phone you meet your partner together with your lawyer to work things out face to face, known as four-way meetings,”
Based in Helston, Cornwall and covering the whole of Cornwall and the South West, Sue is proud to be one of only 1,000 divorce lawyers in the UK qualified to offer a collaborative solution.
And she believes the method being used by Guy and Madonna – who are among the first celebrity couples to go down this route according to reports – will make the break-up much easier to bear for all involved.
Mrs Harwood added, “This approach to getting a divorce originated in America but has recently been given judicial backing in the UK and is becoming increasingly popular among divorcing couples.
The high profile divorce of Madonna and Guy, has showed that if two people are committed to it, then they have a better chance of remaining civil and moving forward for the sake of the children, the very intention behind the concept of Collaborative Family Law.
About Woolley & Co. Solicitors
Woolley & Co is an award-winning family law firm, which employs top-level divorce lawyers working from satellite offices across the Midlands and the south. It has built a reputation for using plain English and offering fixed-fee services, which can be bought directly from its website at www.family-lawfirm.co.uk
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