August 2007 Newsletter

TAKING THE WAR OUT OF OUR WORDS

We are excited to announce the upcoming LIVE training sessions with Sharon Strand Ellison, Director of the Institute for Powerful Non-Defensive Communication and author, “Taking the War Out of Our Words”.

Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 8:00am - 4:00pm
Friday, September 21, 2007 - 8:30am - 4:30pm

Day 1: Experience the shift in the use of power in verbal communications to Increase clarity and reduce defensiveness

Day 2: Practice a four-step process for giving feedback and stating one’s own opinion in a direct, respectful manner to facilitate conflict resolution

Cost: Sept 20th - $160 CLI members/$210 nonmember Sept 20th - 21st(Both Days) $220 CLI members/$270 nonmember

Register Early and Save: Register by August 17th and receive both days for $195 and first day only for $135 (CLI Members); $245 both days or $185 first day only (nonmembers).

2007 CLI PICNIC & ST. PAUL SAINTS GAME

When: Thursday, August 16, 2007
Picnic Time: 4:45 p.m.
Food Service: 6:00 p.m.
Game Time: 7:05 p.m.
Cost: $19.00 per Person
Where: SAINT PAUL SAINTS STADIUM-1771
ENERGY PARK DRIVE, SAINT PAUL

This year, our pre-game picnic will be at “The Tracks” which is located in the northeast corner of the stadium parking lot. Our evening at “The Tracks” includes an enclosed tent, seating for 100, Premium beer for $2.00, Domestic beer for $1.00, free soda, a visit from the Saints’ mascot (Mudonna) and a Saints player visit in addition to our meal! What a Deal! We have reserved seating in Section A of the “reserved seats” section of the stadium.

Don’t delay – reserve your tickets today! To reserve your tickets, please e-mail your reservation to Betsy Anding (anding@mninter.net) and send the appropriate payment amount to the attention of Betsy Anding at CLI, 3300 Edinborough Way, Suite 550, Edina, Minnesota 55435. Make checks payable to CLI. Please specify if any of your requested tickets are for children.

Daisy Camp

Divorce Resources and Retreat – Next Camp starts August 17th!

Daisy Camp is a one- of- a- kind weekend retreat that provides financial, legal and experienced advice from qualified professionals that help women going through a divorce transition. Coupled with the business seminars, many inspirational and self care sessions help enable women to navigate the business and emotional realities that come from a divorce proceeding. Attendees leave with a Divorce Handbook to guide and direct them after the retreat.

What: Daisy Camp for women in divorce transition.
When: August 17th 7pm-10pm; August 18th 9am-10pm; August 19th 9am-1pm
Where: AmericInn Lodge and Suites, Belle Plaine, MN
Why: Founder, Jennifer Morris, couldn’t find a comprehensive resource to help her through all of the legal, business and emotions of her divorce. She’s put together the best speakers and information she could find in a comfortable setting that will allow women to relax and form community during a difficult time of life.
Cost: $155 for Camp Sessions / $199 for Lodging, Meals, Taxes, Gratuity
Scholarships Available

Presenters:

• Real Estate A, B, C’s
• Mortgages, Home Equity, and Refinancing
• Legal School 101
• Financial Nuts and Bolts
• Co-Parenting
• Career Counseling
• Create “your ever expanding life”
• Wellness and Healing
• Dreaming New Possibilities
• Inspiring Passion, Purpose, and Possibilities
• Planned indoor and outdoor activities
• www.daisycampforyou.com

“DIVORCE ABCs”
Achieving a Successful Divorce
2 DVD SET

Gayle Knutson, friend of CLI and Daisy Camp, has created a 2 DVD set for individual facing the prospect of divorce. She attended a past Daisy Camp, filmed the event, and did an excellent job putting it all together into a consolidated package. The DVDs include presentations by several of our very own CLI-MN members, and Collaborative Law and Mediation are focused on as alternatives through out.

DIVORCE ABCs won’t replace the work of the professionals needed to navigate the divorce process, but it will help your clients make smart choices right from the start.

Bulk pricing is available now for collaborative professionals.

1-9 copies - $39.95/copy (includes free shipping)

10-24 copies - $29.95/copy (25% discount) + 6 months free listing with My Successful Divorce Network of Collaborative Professionals (free shipping on order)

25-99 copies - $19.95/copy (50% discount) + 12 months free listing with My Successful Divorce Network of Collaborative Professionals (free shipping on order)

100+ copies - Call 651-433-4499 for special pricing

The following endorsement is provided by Ron Ousky, Collaborative Law attorney. "Divorce ABC's is the most comprehensive video on divorce available, covering every aspect of the Divorce experience in a clear, understandable manner. I am particularly impressed with how the material is arranged, allowing the viewer to focus on the information that is the most useful to them. The video provides all of the information and ideas that have made Divorce Camp such an overwhelming success. I highly recommend the video for anyone going through a divorce. The information provided by the video is sure to save viewers a great deal of money and help them make better decisions about their divorce. Parents, in particular will benefit from the many insights on how to protect their children during the divorce process."

For more information about “Divorce ABCs, contact Gayle Knutson with TUNDRA FILMS®, PO Box 205, Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047 USA, 651-433-4499 or go to www.mysuccessfuldivorce.com

Collaborative Law Committee Updates:

Public Education Committee Update

On June 14th, Stephanie Tschida, Audra Holbeck and Louise Livesay gave a presentation to fifteen therapists at the Eagan Counseling Clinic on Collaborative Divorce. The audience was very receptive to hearing about Collaborative Law, and asked many questions pertaining to how to help their clients get to this process. These same energetic ladies also gave a presentation on Collaborative Divorce to therapists at the Midwest Center for Personal and Family Development in February of this year, where they had an audience of twelve therapists.

Contact Stephanie Tschida for a copy of the article she recently authored for the February Issue of the Minnesota Marriage and Family Therapy Newsletter called: A Supportive Approach to Divorce. This article described the details of Collaborative Divorce and how this process can help their clients.

CLI is scheduled to present at the Minnesota Association of Marriage and Family Therapist's annual meeting in November. In addition to the Collaborative Law brochures everyone is familiar with, we now have a one-page, two-sided "quick-sheet". Plans are to distribute it to the local courthouse, self-help centers, etc. Look for on-going information and updates in subsequent newsletters.

Pro Bono Committee Update

The Pro Bono Committee has been working closely with the Volunteer Lawyers Network of the Hennepin County Bar Association to develop a program for pro bono collaborative team practice, with the support of a recent grant awarded by IACP. We are very pleased to report that our first pro bono team case has completed intake at the VLN and is soon to be working with one of our two pro bono collaborative teams.

The VLN is an excellent partner for our initiative, with already-established procedures for determining eligibility for pro bono services and malpractice coverage for attorneys providing service under their auspices. As our initiative expands, we encourage CLI members to consider joining the VLN, which is establishing a separate category of collaborative practice for family law work. Joining VLN is an easy process, and collaborative attorneys can request involvement with only collaborative cases. As another feature of our collaboration with VLN, the next CLI “nuts and bolts training” for new collaborative professionals will be held at the VLN headquarters later this year; in addition to our other participants, all interested VLN attorneys will be invited to attend.

The Pro Bono initiative will provide an opportunity for collaborative professionals to work together in full teams, including a case manager. A criterion for eligibility for pro bono collaborative services through VLN is the divorcing couple have children. We are certain this experience will strengthen our knowledge base for how to provide high level collaborative team services.

The Pro Bono Committee would like to especially recognize Mark Haase for his significant contributions to all aspects of this initiative. We will keep CLI membership updated about our experiences and further opportunities for expanded membership participation as the initiative grows.

Protocol Committee

The Child Specialist protocols were sent to the Board in July for review. The protocols will be made available to members for comment, on the CLI website soon. The protocol committee plans to conduct a training based on role play involving a Child Specialist, children and parents at the annual meeting.

This Mediation sub-committee is focusing its efforts on developing neutral language for describing the various process options for family law clients. Additionally, they are focusing on educating CLI members on the distinctions and commonalities between mediators and CP lawyers and on the benefits of using each in mediation and Collaborative cases. In addition they are developing a process option flow chart for use by CLI members.

Bridging Committee

The Bridging Committee has determined as its purpose that: CLI will form/build/create relationships with other organizations/entities. The committee plans to develop a policy for bridging to bring to the Board, including a discussion of how to talk about “talking about CLI with other organizations”. The committee will ask CLI members to serve as liaisons to various other organizations to facilitate the forming of relationships.

In the immediate future, the committee plans to focus on building on the existing relationship between AAML and CLI by encouraging CLI members’ participation in Divorce Camp. CLI-MN is one of the sponsors this year, and the event is October 4-7th 2007, at Madden’s Resort in Brainerd. Following up on the rave reviews from the format last year, this year’s theme is Familyopoly- The Expert Edition.

Ad hoc Proposed Rule 114A Committee

The Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice has recommended to the Minnesota Supreme Court that Rule 111 of the General Rules of Practice and Rule 304 of the Rules of Family Court be amended to provide for deferral of scheduling deadlines in Collaborative cases. The Supreme Court will be holding a hearing to consider this recommendation and comments from interested organizations on September 18, 2007. CLI will be submitting a response to the recommendations of the General Rules Committee and appearing at the hearing to encourage promulgation of Rule 114A.

We need your help !
Please take part in the IACP Research Survey

We are very proud of our CLI-MN member, Linda Wray, who along with her Co-Chair, Gay Cox, have chaired the IACP Research Committee, and have put in tireless hours developing and implementing a research study. But, we need your help!

In Linda’s words…..As Collaborative Practice has become increasingly known among legal organizations, professional communities and the judiciary particularly in Minnesota, and as media interest has grown as well, requests for data regarding Collaborative cases is more and more common. I believe that large scale acceptance of the Collaborative model requires research data in addition to the anecdotal facts that have been presented to date. Research is also critical in informing practitioners about the movement, what is working and what is not working.

Gathering data requires discipline and a willingness to report on all cases, even those that did not settle within the process. The Collaborative model is an exceptional dispute resolution process – we need to bring to light data regarding our cases to credibly and reliably inform others and ourselves about our work.

The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) has now completed a Survey of Collaborative Practice Professionals, the first local, national and international research endeavor on Collaborative Practice. The Survey is designed to be completed by all Collaborative professionals around the world who have a case with at least one IACP member. It is constructed to be quite user friendly and is assessable to all IACP members online. Data on submitted cases is quickly tabulated. Once a local community, a state, or a country have reported a statistically significant number of cases on the Survey, data results will be made available to that geographical region.

The good news is MN has just reached this level, and we will soon be able to access research stats for just MN!

To be a part of the study, simply go to the IACP website, log in as a member and continue from there…

The Collaborative Chef

NOTICE--The following recipe contains way too much flour, sugar, and butterfat to be good for anyone old enough to practice--collaboratively, or otherwise. It is, however, a great occasional indulgence.

As Summer passes into August, and the REALLY hot weather begins, we are beset by thirst, and by a desire to slake it. It is the season of refreshing tropical drinks, frosted by condensation, punctuated by fresh fruit and the frosty tinkle of ice. Which explains why it will probably annoy the dickens out of you to read yet another breakfast recipe, and one which requires baking,no less.

But there's a method to this madness. Think of it as training in the Paradigm Shift--thus: Have you ever stepped outside on a sub-zero day and thought about the Dog Days of August, just for psychological comfort? Ever dreamed of being up to your knees in snow while the sweat running in your eyes made it hard to tell whether the thermometer said 80 or 90? Okay! Imagine a crisp Fall day in late October, the sun just starting to light Up the bare, grey treetops. Your household is still asleep under their comforters. What to have for breakfast? As you ponder the question, you grind coffee beans and heat water for coffee. Then you remember! Biscuits! Not the dry, crumbly variety that disintegrate in your fingers. These are lightly browned, their tops the color of cinnamon, and velvety dry outside, their texture webby and consistent, begging for butter and the amber opulence of wild honey.

So take a break from the heat. Shift your thinking. Thanksgiving is coming, and you're about to sit down to a plate of

BREAKFAST

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, place two cups of unbleached flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and a tablespoon of baking powder. Throw in a pinch of salt, combine all ingredients, and form a well in the center of them.

Pour into the well 1-1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream and mix the bowl contents lightly until the dough can be turned out onto a floured surface for final cutting. Fold the dough over on itself a few times, as you would when kneading bread, but DON'T OVERDO IT! Pat it into a sheet about half an inch thick and cut out individual biscuits with a biscuit cutter, knife, or your preferred implement. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam and wipe down with a paper towel to ensure uniform greasing of the sheet. Place the sheet of biscuits on the middle rack of the oven. After 15 minutes, turn the oven off. FIVE MINUTES LATER, remove the biscuits from the oven.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee, take the lid off the honey jar, and prepare to be very happy. Don't stop now. You can thank me later.

Submitted by,
“Henry Gibson”
"Henry Gibson" is the nom de prune of a Collaborative Law Institute
member who writes in happy, overweight anonymity.