Considering a Dissolution?  Do it Collaboratively.

Considering a Dissolution?  Do it Collaboratively.

In his recent review of Tough Cases; a book by Frederick Weisberg, Russell Canan, and Gregory Mize; Justice Gilbert of the California second appellant district, division six, recently wrote that “all human beings are ‘condemned’ to make choices.”  We are reminded the job of a judge are “students who must make [reasoned choices]” by relying on statutes, decision made by higher courts, and the arguments of the parties.  Then, Justice Gilbert adds intuition to the mix which is often referred to the understand something without the need for conscious reasoning. 

A compelling quote is from Judge Mize of the superior court of the District of Columbia who think about questions that should trouble many “...our human condition and the limits of the judicial office.”  The judge who presided over Terry Schiavo case, Judge Greer, explained his decision, “was not a religious question; it was a legal question."Family law judges are strangers to your family, your history, and your family’s religion and traditions.  They make legal decisions impacting your family in the context of laws written by politicians, decision made by justices relating to different families, and decisions base on intuition.  The most well-intentioned and well-qualified judge makes decisions in a relative vacuum, unable, by design, to look further, beyond statutes, beyond what the rules of evidence permit, and beyond the legal questions before the judge.  We ask our best judges to make decision that are harder than determine how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Collaborative transcends statutes, the rules of evidence, and legal questions.  Your collaborative team does not work in a vacuum.  Rather, the team works fully informed helping you make the right decision for yourself and your family, which is not a “legal decision”, but a personal one base who you are and where your family would like to go from here.

You can read more of Justice Gilbert’s review HERE.