Judge Alice Blackwell received The Thomas V. Behan Collaborative Excellence Award for her work guiding families to collaborate to achieve a peaceful resolution of their disputes, instead of litigating. Throughout her career, Judge Blackwell has remained dedicated to promoting civility and collaboration, especially in the midst of family law matters such as divorce and co-parenting, which are inherently difficult for the parties involved.

The Thomas V. Behan Collaborative Excellence Award award was created in its namesake's honor, with the intent to recognize local professionals who advocate for collaboration within the realm of family law. Tom Behan passed away in June of 2017, but had dedicated the latter half of his career to advocating for a non-adversarial divorce process, where the divorcing couple is assisted by a collaborative professional team in reaching an agreement that meets their goals in a non-courtroom setting. During this process, the professional team usually includes two collaborative attorneys, a neutral financial professional, and a neutral mental health professional, who work with the couple to legally separate them while minimizing the economic and emotional impact.

Congratulations, Judge Blackwell! This honor is well deserved!