Holistic Lawyers

Based on an article in The New York Times (April 10th '92) monitored for the Institute by Tranet.

'The holistic lawyer seeks to foster a client's self-awareness and feelings of responsibility for a problem and empathy for his opponent'

William Van Zyverden, a Vermont lawyer, is the founder of the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers. What is a holistic lawyer? It is, says Van Zyverden, someone dedicated to the use of arbitration and mediation rather than litigation. And through intense questioning of his client, the holistic lawyer seeks to identify the roots of a conflict, to foster a client's self-awareness and feelings of responsibility for a problem and empathy for his opponent rather than to cater to the desire for revenge.

Another precept is civility to adversaries, even if they are loathsome. Van Zyverden insists that his clients conduct their own investigations, take their own pictures, interview potential witnesses, assemble documents - everything except research the law. 'It helps them to heal their own inner conflict,' he says. 'To go back and work things through sometimes defuses a lot of anger.'

Van Zyverden acts as lawyer and amateur psychologist for a fee of about $80 an hour.

International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers, PO Box 26, Middlebury, Vermont 05753, USA (tel 0101 802 388 7478).

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