President’s Message

 A Message From CPP President, Greg Davis

It’s been about a quarter of a year since the April Training. Most of us have completed our summer vacations and are rested and ready to get back to work, as practitioners and as a Board. Last week we met over dinner, took stock of ourselves as an organization, and made up our minds to give our members better value for their dues than we have been doing. But first, what are we as an organization? Are we a marketing group or an educational organization? And can we be both?

First and foremost, we agreed that we cannot be primarily a marketing group. We would have to charge dues far greater than we currently charge in order to afford Web-based marketing such as Google ads or PPC–much less print media. Getting that out of the way, then, we agreed quickly that we are and should continue to be primarily focused on education. Our mission as an organization must be twofold: to educate practitioners on the one hand –and in the process to increase the numbers of a) Collaboratively-trained professionals and members; b) cases which can start out as Collaborative divorces; and c) cases which, having languished on the litigation track, can be moved TO collaboration, and also to educate consumers on the other–to increase awareness of our superior alternative to litigation, thereby “growing the pie.”

And so, it appears we are primarily focused on educating the public and our professions, but in that process, we also need to market, at least organically. And so to you, our members, we can promise to provide value beyond your dues by:

–providing enough free CLE to at least double your annual dues in savings;
–providing quarterly CLE meetings with content to help you elevate your skills as practitioners; and
–spread the gospel of Collaborative practice to lawyers and consumers alike, by speaking to law firms, putting on seminars (we are working on an MCBA seminar and an AFCC seminar), and creating a social media presence to promote Collaboration.

We hope you’ll find value in this sufficient to join us (if you are not already members) or renew your memberships (if you are). And our Board can always use fresh ideas and new members. Consider joining us for 2026 and beyond.