2023 Maryland Statutes › Courts and Judicial Proceedings › Title 3 - Courts of General Jurisdiction -- Jurisdiction/special Causes of Action › Subtitle 20 - Maryland Uniform Collaborative Law Act › Section 3-2001 - Definitions

(a)    In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.
(b)    “Collaborative law communication” means a statement, whether oral or in a record or verbal or nonverbal, that:
(1)    Is made to conduct, participate in, continue, or reconvene a collaborative law process; and
(2)    Occurs after the parties sign a collaborative law participation agreement and before the collaborative law process is concluded.
(c)    “Collaborative law participation agreement” means an agreement by persons to participate in a collaborative law process.
(d)    “Collaborative law process” means a procedure intended to resolve a collaborative matter without intervention by a tribunal in which persons:
(1)    Sign a collaborative law participation agreement; and
(2)    Are represented by collaborative lawyers.
(e)    “Collaborative lawyer” means a lawyer who represents a party in a collaborative law process.
(f)    (1)    “Collaborative matter” means a dispute, a transaction, a claim, a problem, or an issue for resolution described in a collaborative law participation agreement.
(2)    “Collaborative matter” includes a dispute, a claim, and an issue in a proceeding.
(g)    “Nonparty participant” means a person other than a party and the party’s collaborative lawyer that participates in a collaborative law process.
(h)    “Party” means a person that signs a collaborative law participation agreement and whose consent is necessary to resolve a collaborative matter.
(i)    “Person” means an individual, a corporation, a business trust, an estate, a trust, a partnership, a limited liability company, an association, a joint venture, a public corporation, a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality or any other legal or commercial entity.
(j)    “Person eligible for relief” includes:
(1)    The current or former spouse of a respondent;
(2)    A cohabitant of a respondent;
(3)    A person related to a respondent by blood, marriage, or adoption;
(4)    A parent, stepparent, child, or stepchild of a respondent or person eligible for relief who resides or resided with the respondent or person eligible for relief for at least 90 days within 1 year before the filing of a petition for relief under Title 4, Subtitle 5 of the Family Law Article;
(5)    A vulnerable adult; and
(6)    A person who has a child in common with the respondent.
(k)    “Proceeding” means:
(1)    A judicial, an administrative, an arbitral, or any other adjudicative process before a tribunal, including related prehearing and posthearing motions, conferences, and discovery; or
(2)    A legislative hearing or similar process.
(l)    “Prospective party” means a person that discusses with a prospective collaborative lawyer the possibility of signing a collaborative law participation agreement.
(m)    “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or any other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(n)    “Related to a collaborative matter” means involving the same parties, transaction or occurrence, nucleus of operative fact, dispute, claim, or issue as the collaborative matter.
(o)    “Sign” means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to:
(1)    Execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(2)    Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.
(p)    “Tribunal” means:
(1)    A court, an arbitrator, an administrative agency, or any other body acting in an adjudicative capacity that, after presentation of evidence or legal argument, has jurisdiction to render a decision affecting a party’s interests in a matter; or
(2)    A legislative body conducting a hearing or similar process.