Collaborative Practice: From a Root Note to a Movement

By Michael P. Sampson

Three and a half decades ago, Stu Webb's sounded a note that sent hearts racing. People who heard him developed, harmonized, and amplified his first note. Creative, smart, driven, humble leaders, first in California, then well beyond, added depth and direction to a movement that became Collaborative Practice.

The pulsing Collaborative Practice movement has steadily grown since the 1990s. As the music has evolved, it has inspired a flock that itself has inspired others to join the current – thousands worldwide, of all shapes and colors. They play not in a cacophony, but in a textured orchestra. They welcome new voices, players, variations, and ideas into Collaborative Practice.

This article is part of Florida Collaborative Quarterly — Issue 001, a publication of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals exploring the development and practice of Collaborative Law and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The walls of the concert halls, connected in a global network, are flexible. They channel sound, energy, and creativity as the melodies fill the halls, testing their walls. Yet the guiding principles the first Collaborative players established support the music as it becomes more layered and expands to touch more people.

From the first notes, to chords, to an anthem of hope, Collaborative Practice keeps swelling. The people whose needs Collaborative Practice and its practitioners serve drive them to keep practicing, playing, and improving.

The Chord Makers: Why Not California…Why Not the US…Why Not the World?

Among the first Collaborative Practice chord makers were Pauline Tesler, Peggy Thompson, Nancy Ross, Jennifer Jackson, and other Californian professionals. After they picked up Stu Webb's signal, they began to develop Collaborative divorce in San Francisco and the Bay Area in the early 1990s. Not short on ambition or ideas, and prepared to persevere, they let their ideas develop into big ideas.

If Stu Webb is the Bach of Collaborative Practice, Pauline Tesler is its Mozart. In her interview in 2007 with her colleague, Jennifer Jackson, a founding International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) board member and coeditor with Tesler of the voice of the IACP – its Collaborative Review – Jackson describes the early expansion of Collaborative Practice:

So of course this lunch group that seemed to be growing into an organization needed a name, and our first thought was, San Francisco Bay Area Institute of Collaborative Professionals. But then we had a really radical thought: Why stop at the Bay Area? Why not – California! And so for a brief interlude, the name was going to be California Institute of Collaborative Professionals. But after about 45 seconds, it occurred to us: Why stop at California? Let’s incorporate as the American Institute of Collaborative Professionals – AICP! … I thought we were being unbelievable dreamers. But sure enough, AICP incorporated, and convened its first forum, in Oakland, in ‘99. Around 75 people attended, many of them from pretty far away, including Stu Webb, and that same year, we published the first issue of the Collaborative Review.

Pauline H. Tesler, Making a Difference: Jennifer Jackson Helped Shape and Launch IACP, IACP Collaborative Review. Vol. 9, Issue 1 (Spring 2007) (emphasis added).

Jamming in Chicago Like It's 1999

Collaborative leaders met in Chicago in 1999. Jennifer Jackson describes the widening of the vision of Collaborative Practice from “American” to “International” after that meeting:

The idea was, “There’s something happening out there and we want to find out what it is,” and people all over the U.S. and Canada were contacted who seemed to have any connection with Collaborative Practice, inviting them to get together in Chicago and talk.

As we talked in Chicago, a consensus emerged that a movement was beginning and that it needed an organizational clearinghouse and voice. We didn’t want micromanagement, but we wanted a central umbrella structure that could include everyone around the world who was becoming excited about Collaborative Practice.

I stood up and said, “We’re from AICP. We already have a nonprofit corporation, our 501(c)3 status, and a journal. How about using that as our central umbrella structure! We will change our name and it can belong to all of us.” So before we were even a year old, our name changed again: we were now the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.

Pauline H. Tesler, Making a Difference: Jennifer Jackson Helped Shape and Launch IACP, IACP Collaborative Review. Vol. 9, Issue 1 (Spring 2007).

The Music Takes Root

The first note maker, Stu Webb, said:

"…Collaborative Law is reinvented wherever it takes root.

And that’s the way it should be."

IACP, Collaborative Review, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Fall 2001).

Under the guidance of the chord makers, Collaborative Practice took root…then soared.

The following table details the forward march of Collaborative Practice. "UCLA/R" refers to the Uniform Collaborative Law Act and Rule and jurisdictions that adopted it as the music unfolded.

Timeline of Collaborative Practice Development

1990 - 1994

Stu Webb writes a February 14, 1990 letter to Judge Sandy Keith introducing Collaborative Law with disqualification commitment to not go to court if settlement efforts are unsuccessful.
Pauline Tesler reads a 1992 article about a Stu Webb seminar on Collaborative Law.
Stu Webb shares ideas about Collaborative Law with Pauline Tesler and Forrest "Woody" Mosten.
Development of Collaborative Divorce in California (1992-1993) by Pauline Tesler, Peggy Thompson, Nancy Ross, Jennifer Jackson, and others, merging mental health and legal expertise.

1995 - 1999

California collaborative group (1997-1998) meets monthly, develops an interdisciplinary model with professionals including Tesler, Thompson, Ross, Jackson.
AVM (Anwaltliche Vereinigung für Mediation und kooperatives Verhandeln) is founded in Austria to promote mediation and cooperative negotiation, including Collaborative Practice elements in the legal profession (1997).
Pauline Tesler conducts a marketing blitz: sends materials to professionals, writes articles about Collaborative Practice, including in the American Journal of Family Law and Psychology, Public Policy, and Law (1998-1999).
The California collaborative group forms the American Institute of Collaborative Professionals (AICP) (1999).
AICP transitions to International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) after a Chicago meeting (1999).
Vancouver Collaborative Divorce Group is established (1999).
First issue of the AICP's Collaborative Quarterly, which becomes the IACP's Collaborative Review, hits the press; co-editors Pauline Tesler and Peggy Thompson (March 1999).

2000 - 2004

Louisiana interdisciplinary collaborative training project for low-income families is developed by Judge Ross Foote with Peggy Thompson and Nancy Ross (2002).
Think tank led by Peggy Thompson and A. Rodney Nurse works on a systems approach and interdisciplinary model for high-conflict families (October 2002).
Quebec Collaborative Law Group is established (October 2002).
Ontario Association of Collaborative Professionals is established (2002).
San Francisco County, California Superior Court Local Rules establishes a Collaborative Law department (2003).
Various British Columbia and Ontario groups like Collaborative Practice Durham, Collaborative Practice Hamilton Halton, Kingston Collaborative Family Law begin (2003).
Switzerland's CLP Schweiz (cooperatives verhandein) is established (2003).
Pauline H. Tesler writes Collaborative Law: Achieving Effective Resolution in Divorce Without Litigation, American Bar Association, Section of Family Law (2003).
IACP holds a public education meeting in Chicago to expand the use of Collaborative Practice around the world (October 2003).
Sheila M. Gutterman writes Collaborative Law: A New Model for Dispute Resolution, Bradford Publishing Company (2004).
Julie Macfarlane writes Experiences of Collaborative Law: Preliminary Results from the Collaborative Lawyering Research Project, J. Disp. Resolution 179 (2004).
Nancy J. Cameron writes Second Edition of Collaborative Practice: Deepening the Dialogue (2014).
Pauline Tesler conducts a collaborative training for Scottish practitioners to bring Collaborative Practice to Scotland (2004).
Global Collaborative Law Council (formerly the Texas Collaborative Law Council) is established to focus on Collaborative Practice for resolving civil disputes (2004).
Collaborative Divorce Toronto and York Collaborative Practice are established (2004).
IACP approves its tagline "Collaborative Practice: Resolving Disputes Respectfully." (January 2004).

2005 - 2009

IACP conducts Professional Practice Survey to collect data from 933 collaborative cases (2005).
Collaborative groups form: Consensus Collaboration Scotland, Association of Collaborative Practitioners (Ireland), Collaborative Practice Simcoe County, Grey-Bruce, Collaborative Family Law London & Middlesex (Ontario), Collaborative Professionals (NSW) Inc. (New South Wales, Australia), Dublin Practice Group (Ireland) (2005).
Pauline H. Tessler & Peggy Thompson write Collaborative Divorce: The Revolutionary Way to Restructure Your Family, Resolve Legal Issues, and Move On With Your Life (2006).
Stu Webb and Ron Ousky write The Collaborative Way to Divorce: The Revolutionary Method that Results in Less Stress, Lower Costs and Happier Kids, Without Going to Court, Harper Collins (2006).
Collaborative groups form: Ordre des Barreaux Francophones et Germanophone (Belgium); Queensland Association; Bermuda Alliance (2006).
IACP focuses on research and developing survey instruments to collect data on collaborative matters (2006).
A Drafting Committee of the Uniform Law Commission beings work on drafting the Uniform Collaborative Law Act (2007).
IACP develops a client survey (2007).
First CP (Cooperative Praxis) seminar in Germany takes place (August 2007).
Collaborative Practice Manitoba, Collaborative Divorce Ottawa are established (2008).
Association of Collaborative Family Professionals (Edmonton) is established (2008).
Collaborative Divorce Association Holland is established (2008).
Collaborative Practice expands focus on including allied professionals (collateral services) on Collaborative teams.
Collaborative leaders increasingly emphasize and write about neuroscience in Collaborative Practice (2008-2009).
Second Edition of Pauline H. Tesler's Collaborative Law: Achieving Effective Resolution in Divorce Without Litigation, American Bar Association, Section of Family Law is published (2009).
Forrest S. Mosten writes Collaborative Divorce Handbook: Effectively Helping Divorcing Families Without Going to Court, Jossey Bass (2009).
German Association for Cooperative Practice (DVCP) (February 2008) and Cooperative Praxis München (May 2008) are established.
Association Française des Praticiens du Droit Collaboratif (AFPDC) is established in France (May 2009).
Vereniging van Collaborative Professionals (Netherlands) is established (2009).
Central Sydney Collaborative Forum (Australia) is formed (2009).

2010 - 2014

Two associations are established to spread Collaborative Practice in Italy: Instituto Italiano di Diritto Collaborativo (IICL) [Italian Institute of Collaborative Law] (Rome) and the Associazione Italiana degli Avvocati di Diritto Collaborativo (AIADC) [Italian Association of Collaborative Law Attorneys] (Milan) (2010).
Collaborative Practice Canberra (Australia) is established (2010).
South Dublin Collaborative Lawyers is established (2010).
IACP expands focus on research and data (2010).
Collaborative Practice Niagara (Ontario, Canada) is established (2011).
Collaborative Resolution New Zealand is established (2011).
IACP adopts a strategic plan and defines "Collaborative Practice" (2011).
Hong Kong Collaborative Practice Group is established (February 2011).
British Columbia Collaborative Roster Society is established (2012).
Collaborative training takes place at the European Conference in Edinburgh (2012).
IACP publishes the research results from its Professional Practice Survey from October 16, 2006 through July 6, 2010 (April 2012).
Abogados Colaborativos de Familia (Spain) is established (2013).
Singapore Mediation Centre is established and the first successful Collaborative family law case is completed (2013).
IACP forms its Inaugural Leadership Academy (2013).
European Network for Collaborative Professionals (ENCP) is formed (2014).
IACP expands its focus to address access to Collaborative Practice, lo bono and pro bono models, and reaching diverse, underserved populations.
Nancy J. Cameron writes Second Edition of Collaborative Practice: Deepening the Dialogue (2014).
IACP conducts second client study, to gather data about client experiences and satisfaction from a diverse sample of divorced individuals using different process options, including Collaborative divorce (2014).
The Collaborative Family Law Clinic (C-LAW) at Loyola Law School is started as a pilot program within the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution (LCCR). It trains students in family law and the collaborative process in partnership with the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association (2014).
Barry University School of Law starts a Pro Bono Collaborative Family Law Clinic, a model for law students to handle divorce cases using Collaborative Practice, under the supervision of Collaborative Professionals, for actual clients (2014).
Instituto Brasileiro de Práticas Colaborativas (IBPC) (Brasil) is established (2014).
UCLA/R adoptions: Utah (May 11, 2010), Texas (September 1, 2011), DC (May 9, 2012), Hawaii (July 1, 2012), Nevada (January 1, 2013), Ohio (March 22, 2013), Washington (July 28, 2013), Alabama (January 1, 2014), Maryland (October 2014), Michigan (December 8, 2014), New Jersey (December 9, 2014).

2015 - 2019

Collaborative Professionals of Saskatchewan is established (2015).
Peel Halton Collaborative and Speed River Collaborative (Ontario) are established (2015).
Adelaide Collaborative Practice Group is established (2015).
Okanagan Collaborative Family Law Group is established (2016).
Brant Haldimand Norfolk Collaborative Family Law Group is established (2016).
Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals established (2016).
North Brisbane Collaborative Practice Group is established (2016).
Asociación de Derecho Colaborativo de Euskadi (Basque Country, Spain) is established (2017).
First Brazilian Congress of Collaborative Practices (2017).
Quinte Collaborative Divorce and Kawartha Collaborative Practice are established (2017).
Victorian Association of Collaborative Professionals is established (2017).
Third Edition of Pauline H. Tesler, Collaborative Law: Achieving Effective Resolution in Divorce Without Litigation, American Bar Association, Section of Family Law is published (2017).
Associació Catalana De Dret Col·laboratiu (Collaborative Law Catalan Association) (Spain) established (September 21, 2017).
Grupo Panameño de Practicas Colaborativas (Panama) is established (2018).
Collaborative Professionals of Canada is formed (April 28, 2019).
Forrest S. Mosten and Adam B. Cordover edit and the American Bar Association Section on Family Law publish Building a Successful Collaborative Family Law Practice (2019).
UCLA/R adoptions: Montana (October 1, 2015), Arizona (January 1, 2016), North Dakota (March 1, 2016), Florida (July 1, 2016 and eff. July 1, 2017 rules), New Mexico (December 31, 2017), Illinois (January 1, 2018), Pennsylvania (August 27, 2018), Tennessee (April 1, 2019).

2020 - Present

Academia Latinoamericana de Práctica Colaborativa) (ALdeCO) (Argentina) is established (2020).
Collaborative Practice Sudbury is established (2020).
Malaysian Collaborative Practice Group is formed (March 18, 2021).
IACP is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (2022)
UCLA/R adoptions: North Carolina (October 1, 2020), Virginia (July 1, 2021), New Hampshire (October 9, 2021), Colorado (January 1, 2022), Kentucky (July 15, 2024), Louisiana (August 1, 2024), Mississippi (August 26, 2024), Connecticut (October 1, 2025), Oklahoma (January 1, 2026).

The IACP, Practice Groups, UCLA – Supporting Collaborative Practice with Form and Structure

IACP: A Framework for a Coherent Whole

From the Minnesota lawyer, California dreamers, and Canadian colleagues, the burgeoning Collaborative Practice network became the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), a thriving, interconnected global community of legal, mental health, financial, and other collaborative professionals.

What drives the IACP? The IACP states its mission:

We unite and empower a global network of professionals who are dedicated to transforming conflict resolution using the principles of Collaborative Practice.

In service of this mission, the IACP's work includes:

Creating and educating members about ethical standards for Collaborative Practice;
Public outreach and education about Collaborative Practice;
Collecting data and conducting and interpreting research about Collaborative Practice, its cost, effectiveness, client satisfaction, and reach to various demographics;
Professional advanced training through webinars and in-person retreats;
Exploring neuroscience, systems approaches, and creative hybrid models to better fit and serve client needs;
Improving access to Collaborative Practice by underserved and diverse populations;
Encouraging leadership and mentoring among local and regional Collaborative Practice Groups; and
Fundraising and marketing.

The IACP supports Collaborative Practice with a framework that has integrity without stifling new, creative sounds.

Practice Groups: Composers and Players

The IACP connects Collaborative practice groups throughout the world. Practice groups themselves connect Collaborative professionals with each other by city, region, state, or country. There are over 200 active practice groups in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Asia, and other countries.

Colleagues in practice groups escape isolation in silos adversaries often find themselves in when working in other dispute resolution models. Members learn about each other. They form and build relationships. They see each other in action. Many first meet at general member meetings and become friends.

Legal, mental health, financial, and allied professional members of practice groups learn how to see the world and clients from each other's perspectives. They learn how to combine forces as teammates to serve people.

As the IACP does on a global level, practice groups take up and shape the standards for playing Collaborative music in their areas, supported by a framework of consistent principles to safeguard against its dissolving into chaotic noise.

Practice group members study Collaborative Practice, ethics, issues, and challenges from real-life examples. Many groups develop consistent protocols for Collaborative Practice, establish their own variations on standards and forms from actual experience, and focus on elevating members' training and education about Collaborative Practice. As they build the Collaborative community in their locality or region, practice groups work to educate the public about Collaborative Practice.

Uniform Collaborative Law Act and Rule: Joining the Orchestra, Supporting Its Structure

The Collaborative Practice movement draws further power from the Uniform Collaborative Law Act/Rule (UCLA/R), a model framework for Collaborative Practice. The Uniform Law Commission began drafting the framework in 2007 and completed the draft in 2010. The Commission's goal was to set consistent standards for the Collaborative Law process in jurisdictions considering formalizing Collaborative Practice by statute (Act) or by judicial rule (Rule).

To come up with an excellent product, the drafters received input from stakeholders ("Observers"). Among the Observers: the IACP, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Dispute Resolution Section of the ABA, the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), the Association for Conflict Resolution, bar association representatives, and legal scholars.

UCLA/R: A Model for Excellent Practice

As foundational principles support composing and playing music, so does the UCLA/R, constructed on foundational principles of Collaborative Practice, provide a consistent, uniform model for Collaborative Practice in jurisdictions that adopt its framework.

In the UCLA/R are standards for privileged confidential collaborative communications, disclosure of information, attorney disqualification from taking part in adversarial litigation, client-informed consent, ethical conduct, and screening for domestic violence.

On February 5, 2024, the American Bar Association's House of Delegates adopted Resolution 703, approving the UCLA/R as "appropriate for those states desiring to adopt the specific substantive law suggested therein."

Uniform Collaborative Law: Joining the March

As of this writing, twenty-eight jurisdictions (27 states and the District of Columbia) have adopted the Uniform Collaborative Law Act/Rule (UCLA/R) in the United States. In 2024, Kentucky and Louisiana (by statute), and Mississippi (by rule) joined the march. Oklahoma and Connecticut followed in 2025 (by statute).

Steady adoption of the UCLA/R reflects the evolving Collaborative Practice soundtrack. But, as chronicled above, the movement extends far beyond the UCLA/R. Collaborative Practice reverberates globally.

Collaborative Practice serving large populations thrives in states (Minnesota, California, New York, Massachusetts) and in countries (Canada, the UK, France, Brazil, Italy, Australia) that have yet to adopt the UCLA/R or an equivalent, yet were among the first places where Collaborative Practice took root.

Rough Numbers: Taking Up the Beat

Collaborative Practitioners and Practice Groups

Although no recent reliable estimate of practicing Collaborative professionals is available, thousands of practitioners – legal, financial, mental health, and allied professionals – who are trained in Collaborative Practice describe themselves as Collaborative professionals. They have helped thousands of families and non-family law clients resolve disputes respectfully, out-of-court.

In 2018, one judge estimated the growth of Collaborative Practice:

Today, every U.S. state and Canadian province acknowledges this practice of law. There are an estimated 20,000 trained collaborative lawyers and an estimated 50,000 or more completed cases.

Judges Love Collaborative Law—Here’s Why, American Bar Association News & Insights (July 2018).

Collaborative Listserv: Expanding Collaborative Professional Community

A measure of the expansion of the professional Collaborative community is the Collaborative Practice Listserv, a forum for Collaborative professional members to share confidentially ideas about Collaborative Practice on longer threads. The Listserv had 169 members in 2002. By December 2025, its membership had quadrupled to 676 members.

Internet Information: Collaborative Law and Collaborative Divorce

Internet searches, generally, have grown since the 1990s. Still, comparing Google search results is instructive as a gauge for growth in Collaborative Practice. Data through December 31, 2025 reflect exponential growth in the search terms "collaborative divorce" and "collaborative law" in Google Search (which began in 1998):

Playing for the People: Collaborative Practice

Collaborative Practice might be a hollow, self-indulgent exercise if it were not for real people – families, businesspeople, clients in distress – who have inspired its development from initial sounds to a lush and vibrant soundscape that resonates with them as they resolve conflicts – privately and with dignity, respect, and creativity.

Conclusion

From a solitary note to a global symphony, Collaborative Practice has harmonized the efforts of Stu Webb, Pauline Tesler, and countless other composers and players into a force that has transformed conflict resolution. As practice groups strengthen worldwide, and amplify and reinvent the music, the melody endures. Thousands of practitioners worldwide will continue to join the orchestra and refine its symphonies to help people improve their lives by getting through and to the other side of conflicts.

Michael P. Sampson is a Florida collaborative attorney and member of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP), the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), and the Central Florida Collaborative Divorce practice group. He was awarded the 2025 Thomas V. Behan Collaborative Excellence Award for his contributions to collaborative practice.