Melinda Eitzen Podcast with Chris Farish.
(chris@quaidfarish.com)

About the Guest:
Chris Farish is a family lawyer that works at Quaid Farish Family Law Firm. He is the past
president of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
Episode Summary:
In this episode of The Melinda Eitzen Show Chris Farish uses his extensive experience in
collaborative law to explain in detail what goes into the collaborative process. Chris also helps
distinguish collaborative from mediation. Chris promotes collaborative law and talks about the
benefits of it over that of litigation.

Key Takeaways:
 Collaborative is recognized by the law as a formal way of getting divorce.
 Mediation can be used in collaborative to help get past impasses.
 In collaborative you will often have a financial expert and a neutral mental health
professional involved.
 Attorneys can take on collaborative cases without training, but the training makes it
easier for everyone involved to go through the process. There is basic training and
advanced training classes available on collaborativedivorcetexas.com.
 The collaborative process is very flexible and can improve communication between
clients.
Notable Quotes:
 “Who wouldn’t want to take control and make decisions for how you are going to raise
your children with the person that you are going to co-parent with rather than leaving it
up to the system?” -Chris Farish
 “A lot of people like the process [collaborative] because it is so private.” -Melinda
Eitzen
 “I really feel like you get more better information, much easier [in the collaborative
process].” -Chris Farish