Founder of Trusler Legal PLLC. Board Certified in Family Law and in Child Welfare Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Master Credentialed in Collaborative Divorce. Practicing family law in Travis County since 2002.
Cristi Trusler founded Trusler Legal PLLC in 2001 and has practiced family law in Travis County since 2002. She is Board Certified in Family Law and in Child Welfare Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and Master Credentialed in Collaborative Divorce by Collaborative Divorce Texas. The firm she built is settlement-first by design, court-capable by training, and small by choice.
The collaborative divorce practice in Central Texas was, in 2002, mostly an idea. A handful of family lawyers had heard of it, fewer had tried it, and the institutional muscle for resolving a marriage outside a courtroom did not yet exist in Travis County. Cristi was one of the early practitioners. Twenty-four years later, the firm handles cases in collaborative law, mediated negotiation, and trial preparation across the six counties that border Travis: Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Burnet, and Blanco.
The conviction that holds the practice together is unfashionable in family law: no family situation has ever improved at the courthouse. The courthouse assigns consequences. It does not design futures. So the firm works to keep matters out of the place that was never built for them. When a trial is necessary, we are ready. The years of preparation that go into trial readiness are a large part of why most matters never have to use it.
— Better Divorce Austin, the consumer-facing brand of Trusler Legal PLLC.
— THE THREE CREDENTIALS —
What's behind the letters.
Most attorney credentials are unfamiliar to the people choosing a family lawyer. Three of them shape this practice. Each one took years.
№ 01
Board Certified · 2007Family Law
The Texas Board of Legal Specialization (TBLS) certifies fewer than ten percent of Texas attorneys in any given specialty. Family Law certification requires substantial trial experience, peer review by other family-law attorneys and judges, and a written examination on Texas Family Code, procedure, and ethics. Recertification every five years; Cristi has been continuously certified since 2007.
TBLSTexas Board of Legal Specialization
№ 02
Board Certified · 2002Child Welfare Law
TBLS Child Welfare Law certification covers cases involving the Department of Family and Protective Services, conservatorship of children in difficult home situations, and the procedural specifics of CPS-involved family law. Cristi has held this certification since 2002; the double TBLS pairing of Family Law plus Child Welfare Law is rare in Texas.
TBLSTexas Board of Legal Specialization
№ 03
Masters Level · 2023Collaborative Law (Inaugural Class)
Collaborative Divorce Texas confers the Masters Level Certification on attorneys who have completed advanced collaborative training and demonstrated sustained collaborative-case experience. Cristi was part of the inaugural class in 2023. The credential reflects depth in the collaborative process, including the team approach (legal, financial, mental-health professional) that distinguishes collaborative work from ordinary settlement negotiation.
CDTCollaborative Divorce Texas
— A NOTE ON BOARD CERTIFICATION —
What "Board Certified" means.
The Texas Board of Legal Specialization (TBLS) is a credentialing body of the State Bar of Texas. Fewer than ten percent of Texas attorneys hold any TBLS specialty certification. The certification is not the same as bar membership, which every practicing attorney holds, and it is not advertising. To earn it, an attorney has to demonstrate sustained substantive practice in the specialty, pass an examination, be evaluated by other family-law attorneys and judges who know their work, and recertify every five years.
When a Texas family-law matter is unfamiliar territory, board certification is one of the few credentials that signals the attorney has been doing this kind of work long enough, often enough, and well enough that other attorneys and judges in the field have vouched for it.
The first conversation is free. There is no retainer involved, no engagement letter, no homework before, and no follow-up email pressuring you to "next step." If we are the right firm, we will tell you. If a different firm or a different professional fits your situation better, we will tell you that too.