The Collaborative Law Institute of Texas (CLI-TX) is a non-profit organization, founded in 2003 and headquartered in Dallas, to promote collaborative law as an alternative to traditional litigation in solving divorce disputes. Membership organizations include lawyers, financial professionals, and mental health professionals who practice collaborative law and/or serve on collaborative legal teams.
Video Collaborative Law Institute of Texas
History
In 1999, when collaborative legislation received notice of the state as an alternative to traditional divorce, Dallas lawyers John McShane and Larry Hance invited Pauline Tesler (a collaborative lawyer based in Mill Valley, Calif.) To the State Bar of Texas' Advanced Family Law Course, an annual four-day educational seminar for as many as 2,000 Texas family law lawyers, to talk about collaborative law.
Houston family lawyer Harry Tindall spearheaded efforts to make collaborative law an option to divorce a couple in Texas. In 2001, as a result of Tindall's efforts, Texas became the first state in the United States to adopt a collaborative law law. The law, called "the model of progressive law, trend-setting," became official in September 2001.
In 2002, McShane and Hance recruited a group of family lawyers representing some of Texas's most densely populated cities and metropolitan areas for the purpose of establishing a statewide organization dedicated to collaborative law practice in Texas. In October, the 2nd International Conference on Collaborative Professionals (IACP) was held in Galveston, bringing collaborative legal practitioners from across North America to Texas. The conference included presentations on the marketing of the Collaborative Law Council of Wisconsin, including details on how legal marketing consultant Elizabeth Ferris (of Ferris Consulting based in Milwaukee) helped the newly born organization develop collaborative legal awareness in Wisconsin.
The Texas lawyers then invited Ferris to participate in a two-day retreat in May 2003, to help create a strategic plan for the Texas Institute for Collaborative Law, which includes the creation of membership structures and training programs for collaborative and family legal practitioners. lawyers, financial professionals, and mental health professionals interested in collaborative law.
The newly born organization then began efforts in educating the public on collaborative law, including the release of a study that showed a significant reduction in the time and money spent in collaborative divorce, when compared to traditional court divorces. The organization also increased the number of its lawyers, mental health professionals and financial professionals in Texas who sought to practice collaborative law, and showed that it could be used in cases involving business disputes as well as divorce disputes.
Maps Collaborative Law Institute of Texas
Committee
The Collaborative Law Institute of Texas has a number of committees and subcommittees. The Committee includes Membership, Marketing, Resources (with Forms & amp; PA, Protocol, Task Force Book, Website, Blog, and Newsletter Sub-Committee), Professional Training and Education, Community Building (with Practice Group, IACP, State Bar, and New Partners sub-committees), and Ad Hoc (with a Subcommittee on Scholarship and Fundraising).
Education
The Collaborative Law Institute of Texas, in collaboration with the State Bar of Texas, organizes an annual educational conference on collaborative law, involving a number of organizational lawyers, financial professionals and mental health professionals, as well as invited guests. The conference, usually held in March, also marks the start of the term of office for new officials of the Supervisory Board. The 2013 edition of the event featured a special presentation by Dallas-based T. Boone Pickens, a collaborative law advocate and longtime supporter of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas.
The organization, in addition to hosting the annual conference, also presents a half-day course on collaborative law as part of the Bar Family Advanced Family Bar Course in Texas. The conference, held every August in San Antonio, commemorates the 40th year in 2014.
The organization's partnership with the State Bar of Texas also includes the State Bar creating the Collaborative Legal Department in May 2010.
The organization also provides CLE education programs and other programs throughout the year, coordinated by CLI-TX members and held in a number of cities in Texas.
Legislative Attempts
In addition to Texas being the first state in the United States to adopt a collaborative law law in 2001, Texas adopted the Uniform Family Collaborative Law Act (also known as the Uniform Cooperation Law Act) in 2011. UFCLA, detailing an expanded list of provisions for collaborative legal practice, following from UCLA 2009 adopted by the Uniform Law Commission, and Texas is one of eight states that have adopted laws as of June 2013. Like the original 2001 law, Harry Tindall was instrumental in lobbying Texas Legislature to pass UFCLA; they did so unanimously, and Texas Governor Rick Perry signed the bill into law on June 17, 2011.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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