Miami-Dade County Family Court Approves Collaborative Practice

In an Administrative Order signed October 19, 2007, Chief Judge Joseph Farina signed an Administrative Order authorizing the collaborative process dispute resolution model in all dissolution and other family related matters.

The Order follows on the footsteps of a Brevard County Judge who recently signed a similar order. Although the Miami Dade County Court differs somewhat from the Brevard Court in that Miami-Dade does not have allow any Court intervention in a collaborative matter and has not, as other Courts have done, allow parties in a collaborative matter for either file a proceeding with the Court or resolve any temporary issues which may arise. Other courts have followed the lead of San Diego in establishing a collaborative court to resolve disputes which may arise during the collaborative process. Miami Dade has opted to keep the court completely out of the process, until such time as the parties either reach agreement or the process breaks down. The Administrative Order does provide that any temporary agreements reached by the parties will be ratified by the Court if the process breaks down and the parties proceed to litigation.

The Order also authorizes withdrawal of the parties attorneys in the event the process breaks down. This aspect of collaborative practice has been criticized by many Collaborative Law skeptics and ruled unethical by the Colorado Bar. The Miami Dade Order appears to endorse this aspect of Collaborative Law by requiring withdrawal of the parties attorneys in the event the process breaks down.

The Order also provides some guidelines for the financial and mental health professionals who are sometimes retained as part of the collaborative process.

Although the Florida Bar has yet to fully endorse or pass any collaborative law statute to date, it appears that the Florida Courts are clearly in favor of a collaborative alternative to the traditional model of divorce, which has been sharply criticized by these Courts in cases where excessive and expensive litigation has resulted.

The Administrative Order comes as a surprise and a tremendous positive gain for Collaborative practitioners, who have struggled with gaining judicial recognition for Collaborative Practice. It remains to be seen whether Broward County will follow suit, so to speak, with a similar Order and whether the Orders of the Courts will gain the attention and recognition of the Florida Bar, allowing this much needed alternative to gain legal recognition and, most importantly, regulation.