Jonathan it seems to me that using the collaborative process would also tend to minimize costs. Is one of the benefits of collaborative divorce less damage to what I often refer to as the “family pocketbook”? It’s difficult enough for these families already. Can you make a rough-perhaps relative magnitude vs quoting dollars-comparison of the costs of collaboration vs the costs of litigation or mediation?

In my experience:

Mediation tends, if it works, to be the cheapest option, and it tends to work well for couples who are relatively low conflict.

Collaboration tends to be higher in cost than mediation, but can handle a far higher level of conflict.

Collaboration, compared to litigation, typically, I believe, is about half to 1/3 less in cost. The savings, I think, are most felt in the roughest cases, those that would have involved multiple hearings and extensive discovery. Litigated cases that settle quickly I don’t expect would differ quite as much in price from collaborative ones (the process, though, would be much more unpleasant).