Except as otherwise provided by law, during the collaborative law process, on the request of another party, a party shall make timely, full, candid, and informal disclosure of information related to the collaborative matter without the requirement of the formal discovery procedures set forth in Part 4 of the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia. A party shall also promptly update previously disclosed information that has materially changed. The parties may define the scope of disclosure during the collaborative law process.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 20-177

  • 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 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
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • 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
  • Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
  • Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249

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

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