#132 The Divorce Model That Saves Families Time, Money and Heartbreak"

What if watching your parents' destructive courtroom battle as a nine-year-old could become the catalyst for transforming how thousands of families end their marriages? For Elizabeth (Liz) Vaz, that painful childhood memory didn't just shape her. It gave her an unshakeable professional mission decades later. At 55, she still remembers every detail of how ugly it got, and how no one was looking out for the kids. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline, sits down with Liz Vaz, Collaborative divorce attorney and Lawline faculty member, to explore how she turned personal trauma into a pioneering legal practice and why collaborative divorce may be the most underutilized tool in family law today. Elizabeth's model keeps families out of the courtroom entirely. Each spouse retains their own Collaboratively trained attorney, but instead of battling before a judge, the couple works alongside a financial neutral and a mental health professional to craft their own agreement. The result is roughly a third of the cost of traditional litigation, with decisions made by the family, not a stranger in a robe who doesn't know them. She also dismantles the biggest myth surrounding Collaborative divorce: that it only works when couples already agree. Parties can be deeply at odds. The only requirement is a willingness to sit at the table. It's a reframe that opens the door far wider than most attorneys or clients realize. For Liz, this was never just a career choice. Sometimes your deepest wound points you straight toward your life's work.