Rule 2 Definitions
Rule Text
In these Rules:
(a) “Collaborative law communication” means a statement, whether oral or in a record, or verbal or nonverbal, that:
(1) is made to conduct, participate in, continue, or reconvene a collaborative law process; and
(2) occurs after the parties sign a collaborative law participation agreement and before the collaborative law process is concluded.
(b) “Collaborative law participation agreement” means an agreement by persons to participate in a collaborative law process.
(c) “Collaborative law process” means a procedure intended to resolve a collaborative matter without intervention by a tribunal in which persons:
(1) sign a collaborative law participation agreement; and
(2) are represented by collaborative lawyers.
(d) “Collaborative lawyer” means a lawyer who represents a party in a collaborative law process.
(e) “Collaborative matter” means a dispute, transaction, claim, problem, or issue for resolution, including a dispute, claim, or issue in a proceeding, which is described in a collaborative law participation agreement and arises under the family or domestic relations law of this state, including:
(1) marriage, divorce, dissolution, annulment, and property distribution;
(2) child custody, visitation, and parenting time;
(3) alimony, maintenance, and child support;
(4) adoption;
(5) parentage;
(6) premarital, marital, and post-marital agreements; and
(7) post Order actions such as modifications, enforcements, and contempts.
(f) “Law firm” means:
(1) lawyers who practice law together in a partnership, professional corporation, sole proprietorship, limited liability company, or association; and
(2) lawyers employed in a legal services organization, or the legal department of a corporation or other organization, or the legal department of a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality.
(g) “Nonparty participant” means a person, other than a party and the party’s collaborative lawyer, that participates in a collaborative law process.
(h) “Party” means a person that signs a collaborative law participation agreement and whose consent is necessary to resolve a collaborative matter.
(i) “Prospective party” means a person that discusses with a prospective collaborative lawyer the possibility of signing a collaborative law participation agreement.
(j) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(k) “Related to a collaborative matter” means involving the same parties, transaction or occurrence, nucleus of operative fact, dispute, claim, or issue as the collaborative matter.