Andy Schepard of Hofstra Law School sent the following message to the ADR list-serv earlier this month.  A pdf of the UCLA appears here.

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Dear ADR colleagues:

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.

I am pleased to report that he Uniform Law Commission voted to adopt the Uniform Collaborative Law Act on July 15th at its meeting in Santa Fe.

The Act recognizes collaborative law as an alternative dispute resolution process. It is also the first uniform act that articulates requirements for informed client consent to participate in an alternative dispute resolution process and a duty upon lawyers to protect the safety of clients from domestic violence when the client participates in ADR.

The final vote was unanimous. The UCLA was, however, the subject of a lengthy floor debate capped by a close vote on the sections of the Act that required collaborative lawyers to screen potential parties for domestic violence and take steps to insure their safety. The vote ultimately followed the recommendation of the Drafting Committee to leave those sections in the Act.

The UCLA now goes to the Style Committee for final review, and I have to revise the Act’s commentary. It then goes to the ABA House of Delegates and, ultimately, the state legislatures for enactment.

I am also attaching a reminder of the conference that Hofstra Law School is hosting on collaborative law and the UCLA on Thursday, November 19th and Friday, November 20th and the special issue of the Hofstra Law Review that will address both.

Best regards,

Andy Schepard

Hofstra Law School