Debra L. Smith, Attorney at Law

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#666699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0a200840erlcjm.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Debra L. Smith, Attorney at Law and Mediator</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Debra L. Smith, Attorney at Law and Medi"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Philosophy"><U>Philosophy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Law Practice"><U>Law Practice</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mediation"><U>Mediation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Justice of the Peace"><U>Justice of the Peace</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats New!"><U>What's New!</U></A>   |   <B>Collaborative Law</B>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Law Related Work"><U>Law Related Work</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teaching"><U>Teaching</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Community Service"><U>Community Service</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Articles"><U>Articles</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directions to 134 Main Street, Watertown"><U>Directions to 134 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts 02472</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Information"><U>Contact Information</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" background="09c11c00egdysm.gif"> <div> <B>Debra L. Smith</B></div> <div> <B>Attorney at Law and Mediator</B></div> <div> <B>134 Main Street </B></div> <div> <B>Watertown, MA 02472  </B></div> <div> <B> </B><B><U>(617) 924-6728</U></B><B>                 </B></div> <div> <B>Fax (617) 924-6797 </B><B>        </B><B>                  </B></div> <div> <B><U>Lawdeb@aol.com</U></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Collaborative Law</div> <div> <U>W</U><U>hat</U><U> is Collaborative Law? </U> </div> <bR> <div> <B>Collaborative law</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" > is a way of resolving matters amicably where both parties hire attorneys who are trained in collaborative law and use a team approach. The professionals, who are members of the team have, taken a collaborative law training course in additional to their professional training in their field such as law, psychology and finance. Some collaborative law professionals have taken mediation training.  The parties involved agree to not litigate with the attorneys they hire.  In a family law matter, people on the team in addition to two attorneys for each party, often include a divorce coach, a financial professional such as a financial planner or certified public accountant and/or a child specialist.    </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Collaborative law meetings are held in the privacy of one of the team professional's office.  It is a private and a practical way to come to a resolution.  Collaborative law could be a much less expensive compared to lengthy litigation.   In Massachusetts, one does need to go to court is to get a Separation Agreement in a divorce case approved by a Probate and Family Court judge.</div> <bR> <div> <I>(c) Copyright 2012. Debra L. Smith. All Rights Reserved.</I></div> </td> </tr></table></body>