who we are

elizabeth f. schwartz, esq.

Elizabeth F. Schwartz is currently in her tenth year of law practice. Also a certified family mediator, she treats the law as a therapeutic profession, helping clients protect their families and facilitating relationship dissolution with minimal investment of emotional and financial resources. Elizabeth's practice focuses on traditional and non-traditional families, estate planning and probate, as well as divorce and creative conflict resolution.

With an emphasis on addressing the unique legal needs of the gay community, Elizabeth lectures locally and nationally about the importance of gay couples protecting their loved ones through estate planning and contract. Her work also includes assisting with the legal aspects of adoption, insemination and surrogacy.

Elizabeth is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Greater Miami, the Probate and Guardianship Committee of the Dade County Bar Association and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar. She is also a founding member on the board of the Women’s Community Fund, raising money by and for South Florida’s lesbian community, and the Collaborative Family Law Institute, an organization reforming the divorce process.

Elizabeth is an AV Rated attorney, which is awarded by Martindale-Hubbell LexisNexis and identifies a lawyer with high legal ability, expertise, experience, integrity and overall professional experience.

For her years of service, Elizabeth was honored with the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce 2005 Community Award. A native of Miami Beach, she received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. She received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Miami, in 1997. A lefty and a Scorpio, she lives with her partner, Lydia Martin and their dog, Buttercup, in downtown Miami's urban core.

elizabeth's professional memberships:

• Collaborative Family Lawyers Institute
• Dade County Bar Association - Board Member, Probate and Guardianship Committee
• Estate Planning Council of Greater Miami
• The Florida Bar - Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
• Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association of Florida
• Miami Beach Bar Association
• Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
• Miami Fellows Initiative - Member, Class III
• National Association of Women Lawyers
• Florida Association for Women Lawyers
• Co-chair - NCLR National Family Law Advisory Council
• National Lesbian and Gay Law Association

elizabeth's professional presentations have included:

• Lavender Law 2006 (the annual conference of the NLGLA) in Washington, D. C.
• Panel Member, Florida Lawyers' Legal Insurance Corporation's Legally Speaking Television Series, June 2006
• Diversity Training Seminars for Miami-Dade County Judges and General Magistrates (2004-2007)
• Annual presentation at "Valuing our Families" conference co-presented by Sunserve and Family Pride Coalition, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Annual presentation at first year Public Interest law elective at University of Miami School of Law, Prof. Martha Mahoney
• "Queer Law Practice" Panel Discussion, University of Miami School of Law, April 8, 2003
• Panel on gay adoption issues, Tulane Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana, October 2002
• Human Rights Campaign Town Hall Meeting, Birmingham, Alabama, Fall, 2002
• Lavender Law 2002 in Philadelphia
• Keynote speaker, "Legal Issues Impacting the Queer Community," New College of Florida, Sarasota, 2001
• Lavender Law 2000 in Washington, D. C.
• Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Ft. Lauderdale, Fall 2000
• Lavender Law 1999 in Seattle
• SAVE-DADE's Lambda Conference in Miami, 1998 and 2000
• GYNA's Gay and Lesbian Parenting Conference, 1998
• Return to Work Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, 1998
• Florida International Univ. School of Social Work, Legal Aspects of Social Work, 1998, 1999, 2000

honors and recognition

• 2007 Sookie Williams Award
  Recognizing exemplary service to the Miami-Dade Legal Community
  Presented by The Daily Business Review
• 2005 Community Award
  In recognition of outstanding service to the GLBT Community
  Presented by the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

firm support staff

Kenny Trim is the most recent addition to our team. With a background in marketing and business administration, he brings years of experience and a wide variety of talents to his role as office manager.

Ibis Lynn Cejas is in charge of technology and special projects, and has been with the firm since its inception in 2001. Her duties include website design, software customization, network infrastructure, and equipment maintenance. Outside the office, she's a freelance designer for Avant Girl Design.