Collaborative team process, practice skills and solutions in eldercare, conservatorship, estate planning, guardianship, trust administration and probate matters

Since 2004, ACT-Solutions project leaders, Bill Andrews, JD, LLM, and Barbara Stagg, JD, MS, have written, presented, published and facilitated professional continuing education programs on civil collaborative practice for legal, mental health, financial and associated professionals.

In response to nationwide requests from civil attorneys, mental health practitioners, financial, fiduciary and allied professionals, Bill and Barbara are developing written and web-based materials for professional development, as well as for public education programs, to encourage the use of non-adversarial interdisciplinary professional collaborative team practice, process skills, case facilitation and practice development in estates, trusts and eldercare and elder protection matters.

ACT-Solutions is also committed to providing collaborative process leadership, participation and to development of resources to help make the Sonoma County Elder Protection Court a reality.

PDF of Bill Andrews’ and Barbara Stagg’s article Resolve Family Disputes without Litigation

William Andrews, JD, LLM
Project Co-Director, Collaborative Eldercare, Estates, Trusts & Probate™

Bill Andrews holds a BS in Business Administration, University of California, Berkley, a JD from Duke Law School and Master of Law (LLM) from NYU Law School. In active private practice in Santa Rosa, California, he has over thirty-five years experience in estate planning, probate and trust litigation and mediation.

An experienced collaborative lawyer and mediator of estate and trust disputes, Bill is helping pioneer the adaptation and expansion of Collaborative Practice into probate and estate planning. In addition to his leadership role in ongoing activities of the Sonoma County Bar Probate and ADR Sections, he serves as co-chair of the Civil Probate Sub-Committee of the International Association of Collaborative Practitioners (IACP). He is an active member of the Collaborative Council of the Redwood Empire (CCRE), supporting expansion of collaborative practice into civil areas outside family law. Bill serves as a frequent organizer, panelist, and speaker across the nation in a wide range of topics in the areas of Collaborative Practice, estate planning, probate, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He was recently listed as a 2010 Northern California Super Lawyer in estate planning and as one of the 2010 Best Lawyers in America in Trust and Estates.

Bill writes extensively on the use of ADR and collaborative practice and is the co-author of Resolve Family Disputes without Ligation with ACT-Solutions Collaborative Eldercare, Estates, Trusts & Probate Project Co-Director, Barbara Stagg, JD, MS.

Barbara Stagg, JD, MS
Project Co-Director, Collaborative Eldercare, Estates, Trusts & Probate™

Barbara Stagg holds a BA in English from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, an MS in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco, and a JD from the University of California, Davis School of Law.

A practicing attorney for 17 years, Barbara specializes in estate planning, probate, trust administration, and non-adversarial collaborative approaches to resolving family conflicts. She maintains offices in Cotati, CA and at the Collaborative Practice Center in Santa Rosa, CA. Prior to practicing law, Barbara had an 11-year career in the geothermal industry managing complex negotiations with environmental regulatory agencies.

Barbara serves on the Board of Directors of the Collaborative Council of the Redwood Empire (CCRE), as Co-Chair of the CCRE Civil Committee, as a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) Civil Collaborative Probate Sub-Committee and acts as coordinator of the monthly IACP Collaborative Probate phone bridge. She is a member of the Sonoma County Bar, a delegate to Collaborative Practice California (CP Cal) and is active in expanding the use of and development of civil collaborative estates, trusts and probate practice.

For more information, please contact ACT-Solutions Collaborative Eldercare, Trusts, Estates & Probate Project Co-Directors: Barbara Stagg, b.stagg@act-solutions.org or Bill Andrews, b.andrews@act-solutions.org or call 1.707.494.6503.