Central Pennsylvania, including Harrisburg, Hershey, Carlisle, York and surrounding areas, has a thriving collaborative law community. This community includes collaborative attorneys, divorce coaches and financial professionals. The Collaborative Professionals of Central Pennsylvania (CPCP) focuses on educating the public and other professionals about the collaborative law process and how it can be used to resolve divorce and other family law issues. As a current board member and former President of CPCP, I value the educational and networking opportunities the group provides.
Collaborative law came to Pennsylvania in approximately 2003, but has been practiced in other parts of the United States and other countries since about 1990. Many of the collaborative professionals initially trained in 2003 and 2004, who established CPCP, are still involved and actively practicing collaboratively. Cumberland, Dauphin and York counties have well-established networks of collaborative professionals working to help clients through the divorce process in a private and respectful way. Through CPCP we have established accepted procedures and guidelines for handling collaborative cases, so all members know what to expect and can explain to their clients what to expect in the collaborative law process.
All attorney members of CPCP are also trained as mediators. Not all of them conduct private mediations, but many do. For clients who choose to resolve their divorce or family law conflict by mediation, this provides a network of trained mediators throughout central Pennsylvania, including Harrisburg, Carlisle, Mechanicsburg and surrounding communities. I enjoy serving as a mediator for couples. When I’m representing an individual who is interested in pursuing mediation, I look first to my trusted colleagues in the central Pennsylvania collaborative law community to recommend a mediator for him or her.
Almost all CPCP members will provide a free 15 minute phone consultation for individuals interested in learning more about the collaborative process. In addition, central Pennsylvania collaborative professionals conduct seminars and community events throughout the region to educate and inform other professionals and the general public. Individuals who have resolved divorce and other family disputes through the collaborative process are the best source of first-hand information about what to expect and why the process works. All members of CPCP are also members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), whose website provides additional information about the process.
If you live or work in central Pennsylvania, including Hershey, Harrisburg, Carlisle and surrounding communities and would like to discuss the collaborative law process and divorce or any other family law or estate planning issue, please contact me.