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Collaborative Family Law And Gender Inequalities: Balancing Risks And Opportunities, Wanda Wiegers, Michaela Keet

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Collaborative Law (CL) is a unique settlement process increasingly used by family lawyers. In this article, the authors examine the potential of CL to alleviate the impact of gendered differences in bargaining power between family clients. Proponents suggest that the more extensive involvement of lawyers in the CL process can prove more effective in dealing with vulnerable clients than either litigation or family mediation in their current forms. Drawing on the available literature on CL, their own empirical research, and the extensive literature on gender imbalances in mediation, the authors examine the likely impact of both the background norms and …