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Collaborative Law

 

We are pleased to offer our services as collaborative law counsel, an exciting and emerging law practice. As collaborative law counsel, we represent clients in private or court-ordered mediations. The concept behind collaborative counsel is to retain separate counsel solely for the purpose of resolving legal disputes through an alternative dispute resolution process, usually mediation, before a lawsuit is filed; in the instances where a lawsuit has already been filed, before trial (and preferably before substantial legal fees are incurred during the litigation process).

This affords maximum protection to your company: you maintain existing trial counsel while we work to reduce your legal expenses by identifying and fulfilling your company’s business objectives in the context of how the particular legal dispute fits within your company’s current business plan. This could be extremely beneficial to your company in three primary ways.

First, trial counsel is responsible for the overall handling of the case, whereas we are retained for the limited purpose of resolving the dispute. Second, we gain a complete understanding of your company’s business goals and identify and accomplish your ultimate business objectives during the mediation or other alternative dispute resolution process. Third, by resolving the dispute, we reduce legal expenses and free up key business leaders and allow them to focus on the company’s business rather than litigation.

As a trained mediator and skilled trial attorney, Sam Woodhouse is uniquely positioned to protect your company’s interest in the collaborative law process. Sam received formal mediation training and was awarded a Certificate in Mediation. More importantly, Sam is a Registered Mediator in the State of Georgia. He regularly represents our clients in private and court-ordered mediations in state and federal courts.

Sam’s experience as a trial attorney provides an added benefit to your company in the collaborative law process. While we are retained as collaborative law counsel for the limited purpose of expeditiously resolving the dispute, we will provide your company with an independent assessment of the lawsuit from the perspective of trial counsel by identifying the strengths and weaknesses in the case. We will also provide you an assessment on how the case would likely play to a jury given Sam’s jury trial experience and the training he received when he obtained an LL.M. in Trial Advocacy.