Skip to main content

The Collaborative Outpost

Skylark Law & Mediation, PC will soon be moving to Southborough, Massachusetts and it's an opportunity for us and other like-minded professionals.  Our new home will be a building in downtown Southborough, called the Collaborative Outpost, which has a particular mission:

To Provide an Enjoyable Work Space for Collaboratively Minded Professionals



ACCOMPLISHING THE MISSION:

Justin Kelsey, who will also be a manager of the Collaborative Outpost, first opened his law firm with Matthew Trask as Kelsey & Trask, PC in 2008.  Since that time Kelsey & Trask, PC has evolved into Skylark Law & Mediation, PC, a leader in the resolution of family and probate disputes.  Justin is active in the mediation and collaborative law communities and has long dreamed of opening a shared work space that could expand on the model that has worked so well for Skylark (now a firm with five attorney/mediators).

The Collaborative Outpost is the realization of this dream, but not the end.  Our goal is to continue to push the frontiers of collaboration and find new ways to expand the reach of peaceful dispute resolution.  We believe that a shared workspace model is conducive to these goals by reducing the overhead for individual practitioners, while increasing their opportunity for learning and networking.

outpost. noun – an outlying or frontier settlement

The joint problem solving that is central to Collaborative Law and Mediation shares a common thread with the collaborative model of shared work spaces.  They are both outliers from the traditional way of doing things.  The Collaborative Outpost combines and embraces those differences from tradition as we seek to be on the frontier of our work in every way.

“It’s always been done that way” is no longer good enough.  

We hope the idea catches on and we are able to expand to additional locations.  Aside from the obvious play on words for a former post-office building, we envision this to be just our first building, a true Outpost on the frontier of a new working model for collaboratively-minded professionals.

If you're interested in joining us or know someone who is, we have an initial offer (expiring on May 12, 2017) to join us.  Click here to view the pricing of memberships and to learn more.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is the purpose of the Divorce Nisi waiting period?

In Massachusetts the statutory waiting period after a Judgment of Divorce and before the divorce becomes final (or absolute) is called the Nisi period. After a divorce case settles or goes to trial, a Judgment of Divorce Nisi will issue and it will become Absolute after a further ninety (90) days. This waiting period serves the purpose of allowing parties to change their mind before the divorce becomes final. If the Judgment of Divorce Nisi has issued but not become final yet, and you and your spouse decide you don't want to get divorced, then you can file a Motion to Dismiss and the Judgment will be undone. Although many of my clients who are getting divorced think the idea of getting back together with their ex sounds crazy, I have had cases where this happened. In addition to offering a grace period to change your mind, the Nisi period has three other legal effects: 1. The most obvious effect of the waiting period is that you cannot remarry during the Nisi period, be

New Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines (2021): Big Changes, Little Changes, Typos & some Unexpected Results

UPDATE: The court has released a web calculating version of the 2021 MA Child Support Guidelines Worksheet .  It resolves some of the typos referred to below, but the unexpected calculations still apply. Every four years, per federal mandate, the Massachusetts Probate & Family Court revisits the Child Support Guidelines through the work of a Task Force appointed by the Chief Justice.  The 2021 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines were recently posted.  They take effect on October 4, 2021.    If you are interested in a training on all of these changes to the new Child Support Guidelines: DMTA Presents the 2021 MA Child Support Guidelines Update  – Attend this event to learn the key updates you need to know for your mediation clients. Presented by Justin Kelsey of  Divorce Mediation Training Associates  and  Skylark Law & Mediation, PC . For a full comparison of all the  tracked changes between the 2018 and 2021 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines you can download a pdf sho

Online Tool for Creating Parenting Plans

It is our hope that all families find a way to resolve conflict peacefully.  This is especially true when children are involved.  Divorced or separated parenting has many complications and the first is just deciding how to share time with a child from two separate households.  Developing a schedule can result in a lot of tension, especially if parents have trouble picturing how this new schedule will interact with their work schedules and the schedules of their children. To help make this easier, we've created an online tool for creating parenting plans that is simple and easy to use: We encourage parents, regardless of the process they are using to divorce, to use this form to assist in evaluating and settling custody disputes. The form allows you to choose between the Model Parenting Plan proposals or customize your parenting plan over a four week period by clicking directly on the form.  When you click on a section of the calendar it switches between Mom and Dad, an