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Gregory K. McGillivary

Managing Partner

Gregory McGillivary is the managing partner of McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP. He has over 30 years of experience litigating, arbitrating, settling, and most importantly, winning cases on behalf of unions and individual workers who have been wrongly denied pay and benefits.

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Home » Attorneys and Staff » Gregory K. McGillivary

BIOGRAPHY

Gregory McGillivary is the managing partner of McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP. He has over 30 years of experience litigating, arbitrating, settling, and most importantly, winning cases on behalf of unions and individual workers who have been wrongly denied pay and benefits. He has represented tens of thousands of workers in a multitude of industries in both the public and private sector in litigation in court and in arbitration. In addition to litigation, Greg has served as a negotiator to help obtain collective bargaining agreements for union members. He is an expert on wage and hour law as well as federal employee statutory benefits. He has a proven track record of winning cases with violations in minimum wage, overtime pay, shift differentials, hazardous duty pay, regular pay rate, and equal pay act requirements.

To see Greg’s publications and papers click here.

To see a list of Greg’s speaking engagements, click here.

Greg’s awareness and grasp of the worker pay laws in all 50 states, those in Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, is demonstrated in his position as Editor-in-Chief on the “State Wage and Hour Laws” Treatise published by Bloomberg/BNA Book, which is now in its Fourth Edition.

The Daily Labor Report’s profile on Greg shows how his passion for labor and employment law came as a product of his upbringing. Both of his grandfathers were union wood products workers who suffered workplace injuries. As mentioned in the book “Top Lawyers: The Secrets to Their Success,” Greg McGillivary knew “he wanted to pursue a career in the legal sector at a young age, and he knew he wanted to help employees who fall victim to unfair treatment in the workplace.”

Greg was nominated by his peers to become a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation – a global honorary society of lawyers, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the profession. Membership in the Foundation is limited to one percent of the lawyers admitted to practice in the United States and its territories. Greg was also awarded the recognition of ‘Best Lawyer for Employment Law – Individuals’ for the Best Lawyer 2021 Rankings, and he is also a member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Greg was also nominated by his peers as a Wall Street Journal Best Lawyer in Washington D.C. for 2021.

Greg’s pursuit of justice extends beyond labor and employment law. He serves on the Board of Directors of Freedom Now, a human rights organization that fights for victims of human rights violations around the world. Greg, along with fellow MSE partner Reid Coploff, were the co-recipients of the American Bar Association’s 2015 Frances Perkins Public Service Award for their pro bono work on behalf of three labor activists in Vietnam who were unjustly and arbitrarily imprisoned by the Vietnamese Government.

In addition, Greg served on the Board of Governors of the University Club of Washington, D.C. and is a past president and former Executive Chair of the Club.

Education

  • University of Oregon (J.D. 1983)

  • Articles Editor, University of Oregon Law Review (1982-1983)

  • Northwestern University (B.A. 1979)

Professional Memberships

  • The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers

  • District of Columbia Bar Association

  • Federal Bar Association

  • American Bar Association

  • National Employment Lawyers Association

  • Union Lawyer’s Alliance, AFL-CIO

Publications

  • Editor in Chief, Wage and Hour Laws, A State by State Survey, Bloomberg Books

  • Author, Law Review Article, “Truncating the Fair Labor Standards Act Limitations Period in Arbitration: A Prospective Waiver of Rights or a Procedural Tweak?,” 30 ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law 305 (Spring 2015)

  • Board of Editors, Senior Editor, The Fair Labor Standards Act, Treatise 4th Ed., E. Kearns (2021), published by Bloomberg Books

Papers

  • Recent Developments in Class and Collective Employment Litigation, What’s New in 2024, Co-Authored with Camille Olson of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, ALI-CLE Current Developments in Labor Law Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 27, 2024.

  • What's New on the Wage and Hour Front, Paper co-authored with Paul DeCamp of Epstein, Becker & Green LLC for ALI/CLE program in Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 20, 2023

  • Surprising and Significant Developments in State Wage and Hour Law, Paper co-authored with Melody Fowler-Green of Yezbak Law Offices and Saveon Grenell of Buelow Vetter Buikema Olson and Vilet, LLC, for Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee of the ABA mid-winter meeting, February 20, 2023

  • Independent Contractors: Do They Still Exist? 2019 ABA Labor & Employment Conference paper prepared with Robyn Klinger. 

  • Hot Topics in Wage and Hour Litigation, Paper Presented at AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Annual Meeting on April 28, 2015.

  • Negotiating an FLSA Settlement: Legal and Practical Considerations, Paper presented at ABA Labor and Employment Law Conference and authored with John Ho, Linda Ho and Linda Singer

  • Important Considerations for Courts When Determining Whether to Certify an FLSA Collective Action in Independent Contractor Cases, ABA Labor and Employment Law Fall Conference, November 5, 2011.

  • Unique Ethical Considerations in Collective And Class Action Wage and Hour Settlements, ABA Labor and Employment Law Fall Conference, November 3-6, 2010.

  • The Need for Arbitrators to Recognize and Exercise Their Broad Powers to Control Proceedings Involving Employee Statutory Class and Multi-Employee Claims in the Federal Sector, National Academy of Arbitrators, May 27, 2010

  • State Wage and Hour Actions: Expanding Beyond the Minimum Wage and Overtime Frontier, ABA National Teleconference, December 2009

  • Section 213(a) Exemptions since the New DOL 541 Regulations: Premature Death Knell of the Salaried Basis Test and Other Unsettled Exemption Issue, ABA Section of Labor and Employment 3rd Annual Conference, Fall 2009

  • Coordinating Class Certification of State and Federal Wage and Hour Claims-Discovery Issues, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Annual Conference, Fall 2008.

  • Hot Topics in FLSA Litigation 2008: Employer Defenses Post-Alvarez and Developments under the Revised White Collar Regulations, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Annual Conference, Seattle, May 18-20, 2008

  • Current Trends in Pursuit and Defense of Hybrid FLSA and State Wage and Hour Litigation. Presented to ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Annual CLE Conference, Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2007.

  • Discovery and Proof Issues in FLSA Cases, AFL-CIO Regional FLSA Meetings, Fall 2007

  • Recurring Wage and Hour Issues in Law Enforcement, Major Cities Conference, April 26, 2006.

  • Opt-Out Wage and Hour Class Actions Under State Law: The Next Big Increase in Litigation to Enforce Workers’ Rights? Presented to UFCW Attorneys Conference, September 20, 2006.

  • The New “White Collar” Overtime Rules: Application in the Public Sector, AFL-CIO Lawyers Committee Conference, New York City, May 2005.

  • The FLSA and the Public Sector: A Whirlwind of Recent Developments and Their Impact on the Private Sector, Colorado Bar CLE Conference, Snowmass, Colorado, January 6, 2005.

  • The New FLSA Overtime Exemption Regulations and Their Potential Impact on UFCW Members, UFCW Attorneys Conference, September 2005.

  • The 541 Regulations: A Comparison of the Old, the Proposed and the New, ABA Convention, August 2004

Speaking Engagements

  • Class and Collective Actions, What’s New in 2024, ALI-CLE Current Developments in Labor Law Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 27, 2024.

  • Wage and Hour Update, ALI-CLE Current Developments in Labor Law Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 25, 2024.

  • July 20, 2023, ALI/CLE Employment Law Conference in Santa Fe, NM, Speaker with Paul DeCamp of Epstein, Becker & Green on Latest Wage and Hour Developments

  • February 15, 2023, Surprising and Significant State Wage and Hour Developments 2022, ABA Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

  • A One-on-One Interview with US Department of Labor Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, ABA Wage and Hour Section Midwinter Meeting, February 15, 2023, San Juan, Puerto Rico

  • November 10, 2022, Legal and Labor Implications for Public Employers Implementing Diversity Initiatives, Moderator of Panel with Professor Kimberlynn Leary, Rebecca Yee and Meshea L. Poore

  • November 3, 2019, State Wage and Hour Developments, Moderator of a panel with Andrew Head and Robyn Klinger at 2019 ABA Labor & Employment Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

  • April 10, 2019, FLSA Exemptions after Encino Motors: Has Everything Changed or is it All the Same? Webinar Presentation with Ellen Kearns, Kenneth Greenberg (Moderator) and Matt Helland. 

  • April 28, 2015, Conducting Wage and Hour Litigation, Spring Conference of the Lawyers Coordinating, AFL-CIO, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Shannon Liss-Riordan and Mark Hanna

  • November 7, 2013, Negotiating an FLSA Settlement Agreement. Legal and Practical Considerations, 9th Annual Fall National Conference of the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Section

  • November 14, 2012, Square Peg. Round Hole. The Challenges and Pitfalls of Exempt Classifications Under the FLSA, ABA National Teleconference, November 14, 2012 with Ellen Kearns.

  • November 5, 2011, ABA Labor and Employment 5th Annual Conference, Independent Contractors: Meadow or Minefield?, Speaker on Panel with U.S. Department of Labor Solicitor M. Patricia Smith.

  • June 3, 2010, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Conference, Enforcing State Wage and Hour Laws: A View From State Agencies,

  • May 27, 2010, National Academy of Arbitrators Annual Meeting, Federal Sector Arbitrations, Speaker on panel with FLRA Member Thomas Beck and DOD  Attorney Carolyn Perry, moderated by Arbitrator Robert G. Bailey

  • December 2, 2009, ABA National Teleconference, Litigating State Class Action Wage and Hour Claims Union Attorney Speaker

  • Fall 2009, ABA Labor and Employment Section 3rd Annual Conference Union attorney speaker on panel on Exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act 

  • March 2009, ABA National Teleconference on State Wage and Hour Class Actions

  • December 3, 2008, Advanced Litigation of Wage and Hour Class Cases, ABA National Teleconference, Union Attorney Speaker

  • September 10, 2008, Advanced Litigation of Wage and Hour Cases, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Annual CLE Conference, Denver, Colorado, Union Attorney Speaker and Panel Member.

  • May 18, 2008, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Annual Conference, Speaker on Hot Topics in Wage and Hour Cases, Seattle, Washington

  • April 8, 2008, Federal Judicial Law Clerk Training on the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Union Attorney Representative and one of the three lawyers who prepared written materials and participated in videotape in Washington, D.C.

  • February 2008, National Border Patrol Council Annual Business Meeting, Speaker on Significant Developments in Border Patrol Agent Pay Issues.

  • November 7-10, 2007 Litigating Wage and Hour Cases, Speaker and Panel Member at ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Annual CLE Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

  • Fall 2007, AFL-CIO Regional Meeting on FLSA Issues, Speaker on Discovery and Proof Issues, Washington, D.C..

  • October 2006, All’s Fair in Labor Law – Beyond the Minimum Wage, Union Attorney Speaker in ABA National CLE Programs Teleconference.

  • September 20,  2006, UFCW Attorneys Conference, FLSA and State Wage Collective and Class Actions, Speaker, Ojai, California.

  • April 26, 2006, Major Cities Conference for Law Enforcement Unions, Recurring Wage and Hour Issues in Law Enforcement, Speaker.  New York City, New York.

  • January 2005, New Developments Under the FLSA, Including the New 541 Regulations, Colorado State Bar Labor and Employment Conference, Snowmass, Colorado, Union Speaker

  • September 2004, DC Bar The 541 Exemption Regulations Under the FLSA, Washington, D.C.

  • May 2005, The New DOL Exemption Regulations, Speaker, AFL-CIO LCC Attorneys Conference, New York City, New York.

  • January 6, 2005, Hot Topics in FLSA Litigation, Speaker, Colorado Bar CLE Conference, Snowmass, Colorado.

  • October 2006, All’s Fair in Labor Law – Beyond the Minimum Wage, Union Attorney Speaker in ABA National CLE Programs Teleconference, October 2006.

  • March 2, 2005, The Wave Continues . . . 1500 New FLSA Class Actions Filed in 2004 and More Expected in 2005, Union Attorney Speaker, ABA National Programs CLE Teleconference.

  • August 2004,  ABA Convention, The New DOL Exemption Regulations, Union Speaker on panel with Howard Radzley, Solicitor of Labor, Atlanta, Georgia.

  • April 9, 2004, Fair Labor Standards Act Update – Key Issues that Affect AFT Members  Speaker at AFT attorneys’ conference  

  • May 7, 2003, The FLSA:  A New World in Overtime. Union Attorney Speaker in American Bar Association National CLE Programs Teleconference

Legal Representation for All Workers

When McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP decides to take your case, it is because we believe there is an unacceptable workplace violation that has negatively impacted you or resulted in your employer paying less than what the law requires and which we have a reasonable chance of remedying. We recognize that meritorious claims should not go unremedied because of the level of a person’s resources.

To ensure accessible and available legal representation for all our clients, MSE handles cases through different forms of fee arrangements, including contingency fees, hourly fees and fixed fees.

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