📋 CHAPTERS:

0:00 Introduction and welcome back

0:47 Sara’s return and why this episode was meant to be

1:04 What trauma-informed family law actually is

1:48 Sara’s first therapy session and discovering big T and little T trauma

3:09 The personal crisis that almost sent her back to school for psychology

4:02 The frustration that changed everything: leaving clients worse than she found them

6:09 Big T vs. little T trauma explained

7:45 ACEs scores and how childhood stress shows up in adult health

9:19 The role of the on-staff trauma therapist at Marler Law Partners

11:53 Empathetic distress and the wellness piece inside the firm

14:51 Young Sara: how a girl who never wanted to do family law became its biggest advocate

16:23 From prosecution dream to her first jury trial before graduation

21:09 The public defender’s office: burning out at month nine

22:52 Getting the dream job and why it disappointed her

25:17 The preeminent family law firm that didn’t fit

28:15 Going out on her own the first time: “associate math” and hard lessons

30:24 The second time around: building Marler Law Partners in 2014

33:06 The biggest leadership lessons growing a whole firm

36:13 Why Sara is not afraid of change and what that means for her team

39:51 High-touch, high-need clients: who Marler Law is really for

41:09 Practical advice nobody gives you: the transition day strategy

44:37 “I just have to get to 18” and why that’s the wrong goal

48:34 High-conflict cases and what showing up really looks like

50:36 A trauma-informed case study: letting the client decide

54:19 How the team at Marler Law resets and takes care of themselves

57:57 The office environment: every sense is intentional

1:00:11 Lawyering for the whole person, not just the case

1:01:22 Teaching Simon Law Firm and WashU about trauma-informed lawyering

1:04:44 JD and MSW combined degrees and the future of the profession

1:09:43 Collaborative law: what it is and how it works

1:12:28 Who is the ideal Marler Law client?

1:14:47 The Connected Client Program and reducing lawyer anxiety

1:15:42 Sara’s social media and how to find her

1:17:48 Closing: leaving people better than you found them