Mueller

BACKGROUND

A.

Collaborative law is a non-judicial alternative dispute resolution process commonly used for marriage dissolutions. (See

1 Knight et al., Cal. Practice Guide: Alternative Dispute Resolution (The Rutter Group 2023), ¶¶ 1:72.20, 3:511.)

Family Code section 2013 is California’s collaborative law statute. It provides only that “(a) If a written agreement is entered into by the parties, the parties may utilize a collaborative law process to resolve any matter governed by this code over which the court is granted jurisdiction pursuant to Section 2000. [¶] (b) ‘Collaborative law process’ means the process in which the parties and any professionals engaged by the parties to assist them agree in writing to use their best efforts and to make a good faith attempt to resolve disputes related to the family law matters as referenced in subdivision (a) on an agreed basis without resorting to adversary judicial intervention.”

The statute includes no confidentiality protection. While the Legislature has enacted an evidentiary privilege for mediations (Evid. Code, § 1119, subd. (b)), Ling 1 concedes that the collaborative law process typically does not qualify as a mediation…