A. Except as otherwise provided in subsection C, a collaborative lawyer is disqualified from appearing before a tribunal to represent a party in a proceeding related to the collaborative matter.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 20-175

  • Collaborative law process: means a procedure intended to resolve a collaborative matter without intervention by a tribunal in which persons sign a collaborative law participation agreement and are represented by collaborative lawyers. See Virginia Code 20-168
  • Collaborative lawyer: means a lawyer who represents a party in a collaborative law process. See Virginia Code 20-168
  • Collaborative matter: means a dispute, transaction, claim, problem, or issue for resolution that is described in a collaborative law participation agreement and that is between family or household members or arises under the family or domestic relations laws of the Commonwealth, including (i) marriage, divorce, dissolution, annulment, and property distribution; (ii) child custody, visitation, and parenting time; (iii) alimony, spousal support, maintenance, and child support; (iv) adoption; (v) parentage; and (vi) negotiation or enforcement of premarital, marital, and separation agreements. See Virginia Code 20-168
  • Law firm: means (i) lawyers who practice law together in a partnership, professional corporation, sole proprietorship, limited liability company, or association or (ii) lawyers employed together in (a) a legal services organization or (b) the legal department of another organization. See Virginia Code 20-168
  • Party: means a person who signs a collaborative law participation agreement and whose consent is necessary to resolve a collaborative matter. See Virginia Code 20-168
  • Proceeding: means a judicial, administrative, arbitral, or other adjudicative process before a tribunal, including related prehearing and post-hearing motions, conferences, and discovery. See Virginia Code 20-168
  • Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
  • Tribunal: means a court, arbitrator, administrative agency, or other body acting in an adjudicative capacity that, after presentation of evidence or legal argument, has jurisdiction to render a decision affecting a party's interest in a matter. See Virginia Code 20-168

B. Except as otherwise provided in subsection C and § 20-176, a lawyer in a law firm with which the collaborative lawyer is associated is disqualified from appearing before a tribunal to represent a party in a proceeding related to the collaborative matter if the collaborative lawyer is disqualified from doing so under subsection A.

C. A collaborative lawyer or another lawyer in a law firm with which the collaborative lawyer is associated may represent a party:

1. To ask a tribunal to affirm, ratify, and incorporate any agreement resulting from the collaborative law process into a court order;

2. To ask a tribunal to enter any order necessary to effectuate the terms of any agreement resulting from the collaborative law process; or

3. To seek or defend an emergency order to protect the health, safety, welfare, or interest of a party or a party’s family or household member, if a successor lawyer is not immediately available to represent such person.

D. If subdivision C 3 applies, a collaborative lawyer, or another lawyer in a law firm with which the collaborative lawyer is associated, may represent a party or a party’s family or household member only until such person is represented by a successor lawyer or reasonable measures are taken to protect the health, safety, welfare, or interest of the person.

2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 346.

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