The history of Collaborative Practices in Brazil began in 2011 when the Mediare Institute created the first study group in Collaborative Practices of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, coordinated by Olivia Fürst, with the new concepts presented by the director of the Institute, Tania Almeida, and the lawyers, Fernanda Paiva and Flavia Soeiro.

 

It was from this original initiative, led by Adolfo Braga, director of the Brazilian Institute of Mediation and Arbitration,  that another study group dedicated to understanding and implementing the practice in our culture was created in São Paulo.

 

In 2013, Collaborative Practices in Family Law showed extremely positive results for clients and so the groups decided to disseminate the Collaborative Practices within our country. The practice was then enrolled in the Innovare Award X Edition, lectures were implemented and a website was created.

 

The objective of the Innovare Award is to identify, reward and disseminate innovative practices carried out by magistrates, members of the state and federal Public Ministry, public defenders and public and private lawyers from all around Brazil, who are improving access to legal services and contributing to the modernization of Brazilian justice.

 

 The Award’s judging commission receives proposals from all Brazilian states and all aspects of the Brazilian justice system, identifying innovative practices with proven results.

 

In November 2013, Collaborative Practices gained greater national prominence with the Innovare Award X Edition, in the Advocacy category, with the “Collaborative Practices in Family Law” written by the lawyer, Olivia Fürst.

 

 Collaborative Law puts the lawyer at the center of a new scenario, inaugurated by CNJ’s 125 Resolution, which establishes the appropriate treatment of conflicts of interests as public policy, encouraging people to maintain control of their lives by bringing dispute resolution to the private sphere.  Recent legislative transformations, such as the Law of Mediation (Law 13.140/2015) and the new Civil Procedure Code (law 13.105/2015), codify this new reality in our legal order.

 

The natural consequence, but not its primary objective, is to reduce the work load in our judiciary system, freeing judges to address issues that strictly require active involvement of the judiciary.

 

The objective of this approach is to foster the individual’s autonomy and responsibility for their actions and choices, contributing to a culture of dialogue and construction of consensus, where the lawyer is no longer seen as someone who aggravates the conflict, but as an ally and an effective social agent of dialogue and peace.

 

The Innovare Award of 2013 confirms that a new field of law has presented itself, and that continued study and dissemination of these practices are of utmost importance.