About Megan
Megan Zavieh is an ethics attorney specializing in California State Bar defense.
The Playbook is born from Megan’s belief that no lawyer should go through the discipline system alone. It was inspired by her understanding that hiring counsel is simply not an option for a great many respondents.
The Playbook is like no other available resource. It makes sense that Megan is the one to create it. She has always done things her own way, and developing a unique resource to level the playing field stacked against pro se lawyers suits her perfectly.
Megan defends California lawyers through her law firm Zavieh Law, and she podcasts on legal ethics issues on her show Lawyers Gone Ethical.
At age 14, Megan set out on a self-designed educational path which led her to high school graduation at age 15, college at 18 and law school at 21. In college she developed an interest in helping lawyers. She planned to become a psychiatrist treating attorneys. Instead, she chose to practice law, but she transitioned mid-career from big firm litigation to a focus on supporting attorneys facing difficult professional times. She found her passion and never looked back.
Megan’s career has gone for a ride with her adventurous personal life, leading her through four states and one foreign country. She is a California native, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has practiced law in New York, New Jersey, California and Georgia. When she and her family lived in Sydney, Australia, she fully launched her California-based solo practice. Physical location has never been a boundary to her work. With each move, she and her husband added a child to their family. They now hold steady at Megan and her husband Tommy, four children, two rescued dogs, two guinea pigs and an adopted cat.
Megan believes that her mission to support lawyers can be fulfilled in countless innovative ways, and she is constantly striving to develop new tools to make defending and avoiding State Bar complaints easier and less costly. The Playbook is one such innovation.
J.D., University of California at Berkeley School of Law, 1999 (Order of the Coif)
• American Jurisprudence Award, Federal Income Taxation I, 1998
• Prosser Award, Resolution of Private International Disputes, 1998
• Associate Editor, Berkeley Journal of International Law and Ecology Law Quarterly
• Research Assistant to Professor David D. Caron, 1997-1998
Federal Judicial Clerkship, United States Court of International Trade, Hon. Evan J. Wallach, 1999-2001
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, Litigation Associate, 2001-2003
K&L Gates LLP, Litigation Associate, 2003-2005
Dechert LLP, Litigation Associate/Senior Staff Attorney, 2005-2009
Solo practice, Zavieh Law, 2009-present