                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 20-168)

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
		&#8220;Collaborative law communication&#8221; means a statement, whether oral
or in a record, or verbal or nonverbal, that (i) is made to conduct, participate
in, continue, or reconvene a collaborative law process and (ii) occurs after the
parties sign a collaborative law participation agreement and before the
collaborative law process is concluded.
		&#8220;Collaborative law participation agreement&#8221; means an agreement by
persons to participate in a collaborative law process.
		&#8220;Collaborative law process&#8221; means a procedure intended to resolve
a collaborative matter without intervention by a tribunal in which persons sign
a collaborative law participation agreement and are represented by collaborative
lawyers.
		&#8220;Collaborative lawyer&#8221; means a lawyer who represents a party in a
collaborative law process.
		&#8220;Collaborative matter&#8221; means a dispute, transaction, claim,
problem, or issue for resolution that is described in a collaborative law
participation agreement and that is between family or household members or
arises under the family or domestic relations laws of the Commonwealth,
including (i) marriage, divorce, dissolution, annulment, and property
distribution; (ii) child custody, visitation, and parenting time; (iii) alimony,
spousal support, maintenance, and child support; (iv) adoption; (v) parentage;
and (vi) negotiation or enforcement of premarital, marital, and separation
agreements.
		&#8220;Family abuse&#8221; has the same meaning as set forth in § 16.1-228.
		&#8220;Family or household member&#8221; has the same meaning as set forth in
§ 16.1-228.
		&#8220;Law firm&#8221; means (i) lawyers who practice law together in a
partnership, professional corporation, sole proprietorship, limited liability
company, or association or (ii) lawyers employed together in (a) a legal
services organization or (b) the legal department of another organization.
		&#8220;Nonparty participant&#8221; means a person, other than a party and the
party&#8217;s collaborative lawyer, that participates in a collaborative law
process.
		&#8220;Party&#8221; means a person who signs a collaborative law participation
agreement and whose consent is necessary to resolve a collaborative matter.
		&#8220;Proceeding&#8221; means a judicial, administrative, arbitral, or other
adjudicative process before a tribunal, including related prehearing and
post-hearing motions, conferences, and discovery.
		&#8220;Prospective party&#8221; means a person who discusses with a
prospective collaborative lawyer the possibility of signing a collaborative law
participation agreement.
		&#8220;Record&#8221; means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium
or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in
perceivable form.
		&#8220;Related to a collaborative matter&#8221; means involving the same
parties, transaction or occurrence, nucleus of operative fact, dispute, claim,
or issue as the collaborative matter.
		&#8220;Sign&#8221; means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a
record, to (i) execute or adopt a tangible symbol or (ii) attach to or logically
associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.
		&#8220;Tribunal&#8221; means a court, arbitrator, administrative agency, or
other body acting in an adjudicative capacity that, after presentation of
evidence or legal argument, has jurisdiction to render a decision affecting a
party&#8217;s interest in a matter.

HISTORY: 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 346.