Unbundled Services | Collaborative or litigation divorce — which is right for me?

An “unbundled services” arrangement is different from the traditional attorney/client relationship with which you may be familiar (which is called a “bundled services” relationship). In unbundled services, the attorney acts more as a coach in the background than an advocate in the foreground, and the attorney does not go to Court unless the client and attorney agree otherwise. The client is responsible for meeting all Court deadlines, and the attorney is available as a resource to help strategize, draft, and provide legal advice when the client requests input. This arrangement can be less expensive than a traditional bundled services relationship because the client does more of the work in resolving the case, but it requires that the client stay in close contact with the attorney and give the attorney advance notice of any help that will be requested.

Boulder divorce attorney Sara Ross advises spouses to talk about which type of divorce they wish to have. Collaborative divorces usually work out better if the attorneys on both sides are trained in collaborative law. Deciding which type of divorce would be best is up to the spouses, but making the decision is important, as it could impact what qualities and traits to look for in an attorney to represent each spouse.

Sara Ross: “I think that the first important thing to do is have a conversation with a formally collaboratively trained attorney. In order to do a collaborative divorce, both lawyers must be formally trained. Making sure you seek someone out who’s had the formal training is important and just talking about the differences. There are definitely hallmarks to each process, and neither one is right or wrong. It’s really a matter of what’s best for the person that I’m talking to and their individual family.

I often urge people to do some research on their own. There are a lot of great resources out there. Books, websites, all sorts of things that people can take some time to digest. It’s a big choice to decide which way to go. I also encourage folks if they’re going to do collaborative, they obviously need to speak with their spouse about what that looks like, and everyone needs to be ready to move forward with that process.”