Elizabeth Schwartz has been practicing law since 1997 and is a nationally recognized advocate for the legal rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. She is the author of BEFORE I DO: A Legal Guide to Marriage, Gay or Otherwise.  She lectures locally, nationally and internationally about the impact of nationwide marriage equality, and the continued importance of LGBT couples protecting their loved ones through estate planning, stepparent and second parent adoption. She focuses her practice both on family formation (adoption, insemination, and surrogacy) and dissolution, and handled the first divorce for a same-sex couple in Florida.