Hey there Legal Rebels! 👋 I’m excited to share with you the 62nd episode of the LawDroid Manifesto podcast, where I will be continuing to interview key legal innovators to learn how they do what they do. I think you’re going to enjoy this one!
If you want to understand how courage, vision, and a willingness to take a leap can completely transform not just your career but your entire life, you need to listen to this episode. David is a legal entrepreneur who has built LawLine into a leading CLE provider while also uprooting his family to live in Barcelona for two years—and he has the stories and the lessons to prove it.
Steering Your Ship: Lessons in Courage, Family, and Legal Entrepreneurship
Join me as I interview David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline and author of the newly released memoir 11 Suitcases.
In this rich and wide-ranging conversation, David shares his journey from a feral Brooklyn childhood to studying communications at George Washington University, through a winding road of sales jobs and real estate, and ultimately to building Lawline into the successful online CLE company it is today. He also takes us behind the scenes of his bold decision to move his family to Barcelona for two years, an experience that transformed his children, his company culture, and his own sense of what’s possible.
His stories weave together themes of entrepreneurship, intentional family life, the power of writing down your vision, and the courage it takes to turn your ship when you feel stuck in a narrow river. David also shares insights from his new book 11 Suitcases, which is already a bestseller on Amazon, and from his earlier book Fast Forward Mindset, which laid the philosophical groundwork for his leap to Barcelona. This episode is a must-watch for any lawyer or legal professional who has ever wondered whether it’s too late to make a bold change.
The Skinny
David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline and author of 11 Suitcases, brings a uniquely human perspective to legal entrepreneurship. In this episode, David traces his origin story from growing up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where his father drove taxis through law school and his parents founded the original version of LawLine as a public access TV show in 1985, through his own circuitous path to building LawLine into a thriving online CLE company. The conversation centers on David’s decision to move his family to Barcelona in 2019, how that experience reshaped his children and his company culture, and the lessons he’s distilled into his memoir 11 Suitcases. David offers a compelling framework for anyone who feels stuck: write down your vision, tell people about it, take small steps, and be willing to turn your ship even when the current feels fixed.
Key Takeaways
David’s father drove taxis through law school and founded the first version of LawLine as a public access TV show in 1985, giving David both grit and an entrepreneurial blueprint from an early age
After graduating from George Washington University with a communications degree, David spent five years in sales before discovering his passion for law through studying for the real estate broker’s exam, a late pivot that ultimately led him to law school
LawLine was rebuilt from scratch in 2006 when David joined; leveraging the company’s history since 1999 gave it credibility for accreditation that was critical to early growth
The move to Barcelona in 2019 was not one big decision but a series of small steps: applying to schools, applying for visas, telling friends and family before they’d fully committed, each step making it harder to turn back
David’s framework for taking a leap comes from his book Fast Forward Mindset: get out of your comfort zone, nip fear in the bud through journaling and gratitude, and define focus by setting a hard deadline
Writing down a family vision and sharing it with others is a powerful catalyst, David’s decision to include “travel” in his family’s core values in 2015 set in motion the chain of events that led to Barcelona four years later
LawLine operates on a four-day work week and prioritizes family-first values, which David sees as essential to his mission and his legacy
The book 11 Suitcases was finally completed in honor of David’s mother, who passed away a year and a half ago, she had been his biggest cheerleader and visited the family in Barcelona during their stay
Being comfortable and being happy are not the same thing, David’s personal mission is to inspire and empower people to live fully so they can look back with no regrets
Notable Quotes
“In 2019, I moved with my family to Barcelona for two years and we packed 11 suitcases and all of our things on the plane. It’s a story of why we went, what happened while we were there, and then how we transformed as a result.” - David Schnurman (00:01:25-00:01:42)
“What I love uncovering is somebody’s story. Whether we’re on air, on a podcast, or just meeting in person, I just need to understand who they are and what makes them tick.” - David Schnurman (00:25:18-00:25:30)
“I wrote it for my kids so they can memorialize this amazing experience that they had together.” - David Schnurman (00:02:15-00:02:20)
“It wasn’t one big decision. It was a lot of small steps. Like applying to the school. You can get in the school and still not go.” - David Schnurman (00:38:15-00:38:24)
“Write it down and tell it to people because I could tell you almost everybody doesn’t do that. And doing that—there’s a lot of data out there. If you write something down, it is much more likely to happen.” - David Schnurman (00:34:32-00:34:49)
“Being comfortable and being happy are not the same thing. And I’ve recognized that.” - David Schnurman (00:45:22-00:45:26)
“My personal mission, even though it’s broad, is to inspire and empower people to live their life to their fullest so they can look back and have no regrets.” - David Schnurman (00:44:50-00:45:02)
“You get 80% of your time with your kids before they’re 18. And so this trip really enriched that.” - David Schnurman (00:36:03-00:36:11)
Clips
Write Your Family’s Vision
How Grief Finished My Book
How Travel Changed Our Kids
How a Kayak Metaphor Changed Everything
David Schnurman’s story is a masterclass in the relationship between vision and action. From his father’s taxi rides through law school to his own improbable leap to Barcelona, David demonstrates that the most meaningful transformations rarely come from a single bold moment—they come from writing things down, telling people your intentions, and taking one small step at a time until the momentum carries you forward. His work at LawLine, now built around a four-day work week and family-first values, reflects the same philosophy: that professional excellence and a life fully lived are not in competition with each other.
Closing Thoughts
David Schnurman’s episode reminded me of something I believe deeply: the legal profession has always attracted people with far more complexity and range than we give ourselves credit for. David is a CEO, an entrepreneur, a stand-up comedian, a marathon runner, a two-time author, and a father who moved his whole family to Barcelona and came back transformed. None of those things exist in spite of each other, they’re all expressions of the same core drive to live without regret.
What struck me most was his point about how the Barcelona move wasn’t one courageous decision. It was dozens of small ones. That’s actually how most meaningful change happens, not in a single leap but in a series of steps that, taken together, add up to something remarkable. For those of us in the legal world who feel locked into a course, David’s story is both permission and a roadmap.
His new book 11 Suitcases is out now on Amazon and at 11suitcases.com. If you’ve ever felt like you’re steering a cargo ship down a narrow river and can’t turn around, read it. You might just surprise yourself.
