David Gray Wright

David Gray Wright is a partner and an attorney in the firm’s labor and employment practice. He litigates on behalf of unions and their members in matters before Maryland’s courts, the National Labor Relations Board, administrative agencies, and in the federal courts. Mr. Wright also counsels unions with regard to negotiations, legislative matters, and compliance issues. Mr. Wright represents unions in interest and grievance arbitrations.

Mr. Wright also represents individuals in employment disputes such as wage payment actions, claims for overtime, and actions to enforce statutory rights including Family and Medical Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, Mr. Wright counsels professionals regarding employment contracts and workplace rights. He advises individuals about severance packages, separation agreements, and releases, to assess any severance offered and any rights waived.

Mr. Wright has appeared before Maryland’s appellate courts. He was on brief in Atkinson, et al. v. Anne Arundel County, 428 Md. 723, 53 A.3d 1184 (2012), a decision that settled thirty-five years of uncertainty regarding binding interest arbitration in Maryland counties. He was also on brief in Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 v. Montgomery County., 436 Md. 1, 80 A.3d 686 (2013), an election law case concerning petitions for referendum. In 2018, he prevailed in a First Amendment action against Ocean City, Maryland filed on behalf of performers and artists who perform on the Town’s boardwalk – Christ v. Town of Ocean City, Maryland, 312 F. Supp. 3d 465 (D. Md. 2018). He has argued cases before the Supreme Court of Maryland and the Appellate Court of Maryland regarding State employee rights and collective bargaining issues.

Mr. Wright graduated with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law. While in law school, he interned in the offices of then-Representative Ben Cardin, the Office of the Attorney General (General Assembly Counsel), and the chambers of Judge Clayton Greene, Jr. of the Supreme Court of Maryland. Mr. Wright also served an Asper Fellowship with the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, under the supervision of Judge Edward R.K. Hargadon.

Following law school, Mr. Wright clerked for Judge Patrick L. Woodward of the Maryland Appellate Court. He then served as a Research Fellow at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Mr. Wright sat on the Board of the Maryland Lawyers for the Arts and the Board of the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute Foundation and Alumni Association. Mr. Wright formerly served as the President of the Charles Village Community Benefits District and the Charles Village Community Foundation. In May 2005, Mr. Wright testified before the United States House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug, Policy, and Human Resources on the role of communities in witness intimidation.

Mr. Wright lives in Charles Village. He is a proud graduate of Baltimore City Public Schools (Poly ’94).