Mr. Avery served in the Army for 20 years. Since 1993, after he retired from the Army, he has restricted his practice to family law, predominantly in Montgomery County, Maryland. First as a solo practitioner and now in partnership with his daughter, Prudence Upton. He has handled hundreds of divorce, child custody, child support, visitation and other family issues, most often bringing them to resolution without the need for a trial. Mr. Avery is frequently consulted by other counsel regarding military matters and has done presentations for a number of groups regarding military family law. He has been selected by SuperLawyers every year since 2008 and has been selected for listing in The Best Lawyers in America since 2017. Mr. Avery is a certified as a mediator in both general civil matters and family law, focusing on property and child-related issues. He serves as a facilitator for the Family Law Division of the Montgomery County Circuit Court. Mr. Avery is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law where he co-teaches Collaborative Practice to law students. He is a trainer for the Collaborative Practice Training Institute training practicing professionals in Collaborative Practice.

With more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Coaxum is skilled at negotiation, settlement, and litigation of complex domestic matters. he has experience navigating difficult and high-profile matters that present significant legal, business, and reputational risks. His deep and vast experience includes complex asset and property distribution, complex separation agreements, alimony, and child custody and access issues. Mr. Coaxum represents clients in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Howard, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, and Montgomery counties in Maryland as well as the District of Columbia. In addition to his family law practice, he also serves as legal counsel and trusted advisor to clients who are owners of business and corporate entities. Mr. Coaxum’s experience includes handling multifaceted business disputes and litigation matters, including high profile defamation claims, employment disputes, and contract claims. His excellent reputation in the Maryland legal community has resulted in the recent appointment to Maryland’s Attorney Grievance Commission, a commission that ensures Maryland lawyers adhere to their professional responsibilities. He served on the board of directors for the Maryland Pro Bono Resource Center from 2010 to 2016 and is also a former board member to HopeWorks, Howard County’s sexual assault and domestic violence center that provides critical services to families affected by domestic violence. From 2009 to 2017, Mr. Coaxum served as treasurer to the Prince George’s County Political Committee to Re-Elect Sitting Judges and served as political committee treasurer to other Judges in campaigns to retain judicial seats in Howard County.

Ms. DeMeo is an alumna of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and George Washington University Law School, who has been practicing family law in Maryland and DC for over 25 years. She is currently a Principal at Markham Law Firm in Bethesda, MD, where she focuses on negotiated settlements and Alternate Dispute Resolution, including mediation and Collaborative Law. Although she continues to litigate in high conflict cases, her preference is to help families in transition efficiently navigate the divorce process in order to preserve as much family wealth and goodwill as possible. For over a decade she has frequently quoted as an expert in her field, and various media sources have recognized her as one of the top DC area attorneys in her field, including the Washingtonian Magazine, Superlawyers, Bethesda Magazine, Best Lawyers and the Daily Record. She was an adjunct professor from 2019-2020 for the GWU Family Justice Center, and is currently serving a 2 year term as a Board Member of the AFCC Maryland Chapter.

Ms. Jacobson has been practicing law for nearly a decade, having successfully represented clients in all facets of family law proceedings including separation, divorce, custody, child support, post-divorce enforcement, and other family law related matters. Through her experience litigating family law matters, Ms. Jacobson has found that the conflict associated with litigation often tears a family apart making it toxic for children and their parents. However, as a certified mediator and collaborative divorce attorney, she has also seen how these forms of alternative dispute resolution can lead to and foster successful co-parenting arrangements. Ms. Jacobson has chosen to dedicate her practice to working with clients who wish to resolve their family disputes without court intervention. She assists clients in choosing between mediation, collaborative divorce or separation agreements in order to keep drama out of their divorce. Ms. Jacobson graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law with her Juris Doctorate magna cum laude. She is admitted to practice law throughout the State of Maryland as well as within the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. She is a certified mediator, Best Interest Attorney, Child Advocate Attorney and Child Privilege Attorney. Prior to founding Jacobson Family Law, Ms. Jacobson was a senior associate at The Drazin Law Center, specializing in divorce and bankruptcy.

Ms. Scherer concentrates representation in divorce, child custody, parenting agreements, alimony, marital property division, marital settlement agreements, child support, visitation, paternity, step-parent adoption, jurisdictional disputes, and interstate child custody and child support matters. Her vast experience in domestic/family law matters is the foundation of her recognition as a leading Maryland family, divorce, and custody attorney. Ms. Scherer regularly appears in state courts throughout Maryland. She has skillfully litigated and settled hundreds of domestic cases, obtaining favorable results for her clients. Ms. Scherer regularly represents high profile clients in state court, including professional sports figures and business owners with significant assets at stake. Additionally, Ms. Scherer has obtained custody for many clients, both men and women. Ms. Scherer has successfully argued cases before the Maryland appellate courts resulting in published and unpublished opinions. Ms. Scherer is also trained in collaborative law, which is a commitment to recognizing that divorce and other family matters are multi-dimensional and often require assistance from other collaboratively trained professionals such as child specialists, financial specialists, and/or a divorce coach. The goal of the collaborative approach is a negotiated settlement focusing on empowering the client, following established guidelines and protocols without the threat of court action from the collaborative attorneys. Ms. Scherer is also a trained civil mediator and is regularly appointed by state courts to serve as a Best Interest Attorney or Privilege Attorney to represent children in highly contested cases. Her client-first, goal-oriented strategy is consistently recognized by her peers and by Maryland Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers as the best divorce lawyer in Maryland, the best custody lawyer in Maryland, and the best Maryland family attorney, to name a few.