By Katy Ray
Photo by Denis Largeron
For the past 30 years, Michele Zavos of Zavos Juncker Law Group PLLC has been educating thousands of people about legal issues and the LGBTQ community. From taking the lead on key issues in LGBTQ family and adoption, to lobbying for new laws to better serve the needs of the community, Zavos is more than just an attorney: she’s a hero.
Like many attorneys, Zavos began working out of her home. As a savvy business woman, she has grown her law practice to over eleven people, all dedicated to providing legal services and counseling for LGBTQ couples, as well as the mainstream community.
“I never planned it this way,” Zavos explains as she reflects on her career and firm. “I tend to see things not just for how it will impact individuals, but look at the entire structure and ask what can we do to change that. We think of cases in ways that may help the entire community.”
Zavos has been an attorney on cases such as Port v. Cowan, which resulted in the mandate that Maryland must recognize valid out-of-jurisdiction marriages of same-sex couples. Through her work on the Davenport v. Little-Bowser case, she saw to it that the Commonwealth of Virginia was required to place two same-sex legal parents on a child’s birth certificate.
“I think it’s possible to be a good business person and still do good and interesting work, you just have to work at it,” says Zavos. “You have to find something you’re passionate about and do that.”
