Committees, Task Forces, and Regional Groups

The Collaborative Law Institute has several committees and task forces that promote the Collaborative process. We urge our members to become involved as a way to meet Collaborative professionals, further their knowledge of the Collaborative process, and expand their Collaborative practice.

Meeting dates and times are listed on the website calendar.

Committees

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Annual Meeting:

Co-Chairs: Deb Clemmensen and Colleen Harris-Pearson
Meetings: As needed
Goal: To build the Collaborative Law Institute community through informing the membership of the accomplishments of the Institute as well as to inspire and educate the members to rise to higher levels of Collaborative practice.

Expanding the Collaborative Process/Pro Bono:

Co-Chairs: Kemi Rampi and Deb Clemmensen
Meetings: Second Thursday, 11:30-1:00 at the Collaborative Alliance
Goal: To establish a program through which unrepresented low income parties may receive services in the Collaborative process.

Membership:

Co-Chairs: Holly Lundquist and Brad Frago
Meetings: Second Thursday, 8:00-9:30 at the Collaborative Alliance
Goal: To develop an active membership by reaching out to prospective members and serving existing members. The committee is responsible for developing and implementing policies regarding the new member and renewal processes. We organize and staff the Family Law Institute booth and the summer picnic. The Membership committee is responsible for publishing the monthly Collaborative Outlook newsletter and the Quarterly newsletter.

Public Education:

Co-Chairs: Louise Livesay and Audra Holbeck
Meetings: Second Wednesday of the month at 4:45. The location alternates between Louise Livesay’s office and Stephanie Tschida’s office.
Goal: To double the number of Collaborative process cases annually through a process of education of the public and professional communities. The committee focused on achieving this goal through increasing public awareness via outreach and media relations.

Quality Assurance:

Chair: James Gurovitsch
Meetings: As needed
Goal: To provide Collaborative professionals and their clients with various tools to assure the quality of the Collaborative process.

Training:

Chair: Tonda Mattie
Meetings: Fourth Monday, 11:30-1:00 at the Collaborative Alliance
Goal: To engage the Collaborative Institute members and other professionals in a life-long learning process that promotes a shift of mind set and equips all professionals with special skills to that settlement occurs and healing begins.

Website:

Co-Chairs: Shannon Helland and Colleen Harris-Pearson
Meetings: TBD and as posted on the calendar
Goal: To create a website that educates the public about the Collaborative process and informs the Institute membership.

Task Forces

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Domestic Abuse:

Chair: Patricia Rogers
Meetings: Goal: To develop the best practices for domestic abuse cases in the Collaborative process.

Legislative/UCLA:

Co-Chairs: Linda Wray and Donna Piazza
Meetings: First Tuesday 8:00-10:00 at Audra Holbeck’s office
Goal: To ensure the enactment of the UCLA in Minnesota and to work with the bar and legislature to ensue the family law code is supportive of Collaborative process.

MHP/Mediator:

Co-Chairs: Linda Wray and Pat Rogers
Meetings: Third Tuesday 8:30-10:00 at Audra Holbeck’s office
Goal: To prepare protocols surrounding the role of the neutral facilitator.

Organizational Capacity:

Chair: Amy Wolff
Goal: To continue to build systems and efficiencies for the internal structure of the Collaborative Law Institute.

Strategic Planning:

Chair: Louise Livesay
Meetings: As needed
Goal: To reassess our mission and direction for the future of Collaborative Law Institute.

Team Practice:

    Co-Chairs: Stephanie Tschida and Louise Livesay
    Meetings: TBD and as posted on the calendar
    Goal: To continue to develop and refine the Team Practice model in Minnesota through education and utilizing developed and available resources.

Client Experience Engineering and Stewardship:

Chair: Judy Johnson
Meetings: 1st Wednesday of the month at the Collaborative Alliance offices. 
Goal: This group is studying the groundbreaking efforts of business legend Lew Carbone, and how he helps service providers work as partners with their customers to improve their customer experience, and feel better about themselves. Experience Engineering and Stewardship seeks reliable feedback from customers on how they experience the services offered, and to create a consistent method of responding to this feedback that continuously improves outcomes for both customers and business. This group is open to anyone who is willing to meet for lunch the first Wednesday of each month, and to come prepared by reading Lew's book, Clued In.

Regional Practice Groups

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The goal of the regional practice groups is to provide geographically convenient opportunities for networking, education, and to receive peer input on challenging cases.

East Metro:

Co-Chairs: Tom Alf and Elizabeth Wrobel
Meetings: Fourth Wednesday, 4:30-6:00
Location: Tom Alf’s office

Edina:

Chair: Lee Eddison
Meetings: Third Thursday, 12:00 – 1:00
Location: Collaborative Alliance

South of the River:

Chair: Brad Frago
Meetings: Second Friday, 12:00 – 1:00
Location: Brad Frago’s office

Southwest Metro:

Chair: Dave Dustrud
Meetings: Fourth Friday, 12:00 – 1:00
Location: Chanhassen Houlihan’s

West Metro:

Chair: Charlie Goldstein
Meetings: Fourth Wednesday, 12:00 – 1:00
Location: Charlie Goldstein’s office