Eugene Seltzer, Practitioner of  Collaborative Process

       Gene has practiced family law over 32 years.  Although there was a lot of satisfaction in representing spouses in contested family law litigation, Gene always felt that family issues could be resolved in a more constructive and non-adversarial way. Starting in 1994, Gene became a member of the San Francisco Collaborative Law Group, which was pioneering new techniques and processes to help spouses settle out of court with a commitment to finding and implementing the highest and best intentions and goals of both parties.

       Gene is now a member of five different collaborative groups in the San Francisco Bay Area, all of which can be linked from this site. Below is a description of the Gene’s role as an attorney in the collaborative process.

Collaborative Process

Each spouse in a collaborative matter has an independent attorney, who is trained in non-adversarial process techniques designed to minimize antagonism and maximize constructive discussion. The collaborative attorney meets separately and confidentially with the client, and counsels about the rights and obligations of the parties in the family law process. Although the attorney is committed to protecting the client’s rights, the collaborative attorney also educates the client about all the options available to address the needs of the both parties, which is necessary to a mutually acceptable resolution of the issues. 

The attorneys are present at four-way meetings, which are the heart of the collaborative process, often speaking on behalf of the client, but mindful of the need to allow each of the participants a role in advancing the discussion. They are trained to help keep the meetings safe from destructive or provocative dialogues, and make them a constructive and comfortable place for the parties to create acceptable solutions to their issues.

The attorneys also manage the agenda for each meeting, to minimize surprises and to generate the information necessary for each step of the process.  Collaborative attorneys often communicate between themselves, and other professional team members, before the meetings, about the information needed and/or the personal context, to assist the parties to make positive contributions at the meetings.

All of the attorneys in the collaborative groups in which Gene is a member have met the substantial requirements of family law experience and collaborative training in order to be admitted to full membership, and are members of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.  They have also met, and/or worked, with each of the other collaborative professionals in these groups, and all are prepared to work together to make the process as easy as possible for you.