2516E910F11AAB808725852000715D16 Hearing Summary

Representative Tipper, sponsor, presented House Bill 20-1291, concerning the Uniform Collaborative Law Act. The bill authorizes a collaborative law process that allows disputes to be resolved without intervention by a court or tribunal.

The following panel testified on the bill:

Terri Herrington, representing the Family Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association (CBA), testified in support of the bill. She stated that collaborative law offers a streamlined way for clients to receive legal advice, specifically within family law and divorce proceedings.

Ann Gushurst, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She stated that traditional litigation techniques do not address a majority of issues that arise within a divorce court proceeding, and a collaborative law process would benefit parties in family court.

Meggin Rutherford, representing herself, testified in support of the bill and discussed the benefits of collaborative law.

The panel responded to questions from the committee regarding fields of law that would benefit from utilizing a collaborative process, including probate, employment law, collections, and medical malpractice. The panel responded to questions regarding rules of professional conduct in a collaborative process.

The following panel testified on the bill:

Bert Dempsey, representing himself as a member of Colorado Collaborative Divorce Professionals (CCDP), testified in support of the bill.

Kristi Anderson Wells, representing CCDP, stated that she was available for questions.

Marie Moses, representing the Colorado Bar Association, testified in support of the bill and stated that collaborative law is an important option in family law disputes. She stated that the CBA has encouraged several amendments, and spoke to Amendment L.001 and Amendment L.002, which were distributed to members (Attachments A and B).

The committee recessed.

The committee came back to order.

Representative Tipper moved and discussed Amendment L.001 (Attachment A).

Representative Tipper moved and discussed Amendment L.002 (Attachment B).

Representative Tipper made concluding comments on the bill.