大卫·欧博伊尔著
2017.9.18
With members in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, the D.C. 酒吧 is beginning a regular feature to profile the people who make up our community. Read about your peers, their lives, and their work around the world.
在艾滋病危机最严重的时候, 澳博app米歇尔·扎沃斯开始在LGBT社区工作, 有时去医院见客户. “I would go into hospitals and see men who were dying of AIDS, 我做的第一件事就是和他们握手,扎沃斯说, now managing partner and founder of Zavos Juncker Law Group, 事务所. “当时人们还没有完全了解艾滋病毒, when nurses sometimes wouldn't bring food in to a patient’s room because they were afraid of touching the patient.”
That compassion is evident throughout Zavos’s career working at the forefront of LGBT issues and family law. Over the years, Zavos has witnessed monumental societal change, and here she discusses with the D.C. 除了她对法律的经验和热情.
What different types of work have you done since you started your legal career?
当我还在法学院的时候, 我为美国公民自由联盟国家监狱项目工作, and I did legal services work through the clinic at Catholic University’s law school.
从法学院毕业后, 我在乔治亚法律服务公司工作过一段时间, did prison work in Baltimore for about two and a half years at Maryland Legal Aid Bureau, 公司., and clerked for Judge Gladys Kessler when she was on the D.C. 高等法院.
In about 1983, I worked for a small firm where I started to do work in the LGBT community.
你是如何开始从事LGBT法律工作的?
I am a lesbian, and I had friends who needed legal assistance. Also, I was one of the first volunteers with the Whitman-Walker Clinic doing AIDS work. 最终，这是天作之合.
在一家小公司工作了几年之后, I opened a firm with one of my law professors from Catholic University. 我们在艾滋病危机最严重的时候工作, representing a lot of individual clients who often needed estate planning assistance. We worked on any issues that came through our door at the time.
跟我们说说你早年的一些经历吧.
我们是最早在报纸上做广告的人 华盛顿叶片 . . . 我们公司代表所有人. 显然，我们比大多数人更了解LGBT群体. 当时, I represented a number of Republican gay men who were dying in hospitals, 谁的家人不让他们见自己的情人.
我也和D.C. 艾滋病毒相关立法委员会. There was a lot going on at the time around AIDS, and protecting LGBT families. 那是一段艰难而又激动人心的时光. 我试着, 然后继续尝试, to be the kind of lawyer who connected with my clients—that’s really important.
Did you have any particularly challenging cases at the time?
有很多具有挑战性的案例. I had a case in 1982 in which the military tried to court martial a colonel who was gay. The partner I worked for at the time and I were able to get the military to allow the colonel to retire after 30 years of service.
There are many stories like that throughout my career, and they are part of what has kept me going. My work is not just about gay people—it’s about anybody who is trying to protect their family, 想办法让法律为他们服务. I have worked on many interesting cases at the cutting edge of what our society defines as a family.
What motivated you to open a firm with your former law professor?
I left the firm in 1990, and I was a consultant with the ABA for about six years. 这让我和女儿在一起有了更多的灵活性. I still worked full time, but I could essentially have my own schedule.
是什么让你重新开了自己的公司?
While I was at the ABA, I began to miss representing clients. 我决定在我的房子外与客户合作, 我会去拜访他们的家, 哪个是澳博app执业的好方法.
我会坐在别人家的客厅里, 他们的猫会坐在他们的腿上, 或者他们的狗会过来, 或者你抱着他们的孩子.
我的实践不断扩大. When my daughter went off to college, it was as if my practice doubled overnight. I had to decide whether I was willing to cut everything back and still work out of my home, 或者开个办公室，扩大业务, 我就是这么做的.
你现在在处理什么类型的案件?
I had a couple of cases involving same-sex couples in which one had adopted the other. Now, with marriage equality, the couples wanted to end the adoption and get married. 我在D区有三个这样的病例.C. 在马里兰州. We were able to come up with a strategy in a way that no one else would have thought of, 我们在这三方面都取得了成功. 三对夫妇都结婚了. 太棒了.
I do a lot of assistive reproductive technology and establishing legal rights for families for female couples or a single gay man using surrogacy. I represent a fair number of clients from Europe who are doing that.
I also worked on a three-parent judgment on parentage between a man and a lesbian couple. 这三个人都被要求出现在出生证明上. 太神奇了.
What are the top lessons you have learned from opening and running your own firm?
它总是比你想象的要难. 它会比你想象的更有成就感. Having your own law firm also allows you to create the culture in your firm regarding your colleagues and your clients. 这很重要.
At our firm, my mother, who is almost 93, bakes cookies that we put out for our clients. 当客户进来看到饼干的时候很可爱. 有个客户跟我说, “我从来没见过澳博app, 但当我看到那些饼干, 我认为, 也许会没事."
我喜欢做澳博app，我也喜欢做澳博app. I love working with clients and solving problems for them in a compassionate and ethical way. 我无法想象自己还能做什么, 这是件好事，因为总有一天我会退休的, 我不会开始另一份事业.
