Gregory K. "Greg" McGillivary
Recognized since 2021
Washington, District of Columbia
Employment Law - Individuals
Litigation - Labor and Employment
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 multi-million-dollar 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 through all levels of the judiciary system 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 of minimum wage, overtime pay, shift differentials, hazardous duty pay requirements, and improper pay rates.
Greg pursues each and every case with a relentless drive to persevere until justice is achieved. Greg is the Editor-in-Chief on the Treatise published by Bloomberg/BNA Book “State Wage and Hour Laws”, which is now in its Third Edition, which covers how he has an unwavering awareness and incredibly firm grasp of the equal pay act and worker pay laws present in all 50 states, including those in Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The Daily Labor Report’s recent 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.” This early drive allowed Greg to devote his entire educational and professional career to the advancement of his labor and employment law knowledge and expertise.
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 also 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 serves on the Board of Governors of the University Club of Washington, D.C. and is the chair of the executive committee as well as a past president of the Club.
Contact & Links
Location
- 1101 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005
Education
- University of Oregon, J.D., graduated 1983
- Northwestern University, B.A., graduated 1979
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia, 1987
- Virginia, 1986
- Washington, 1984
Affiliations
- American Bar Association - Member
- District of Columbia Bar Association - Member
- Federal Bar Association - Member
- Lawyer's Coordinating Committee, AFL-CIO - Member
- National Employment Lawyers Association - Member
- The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers - Member
Court Admissions
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- United States Court of Federal Claims
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
2 The Best Lawyers in America® awards

Recognized in The Best Lawyers® in America 2023 for work in:
- Employment Law - Individuals
- Litigation - Labor and Employment
Awards:
- American Bar Association's 2015 Frances Perkins Public Service Award
Paper
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, 2010Paper
Unique Ethical Considerations in Collective And Class Action Wage and Hour Settlements, ABA Labor and Employment Law Fall Conference, November 3-6, 2010.Paper
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.Paper
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 SingerPaper
Hot Topics in Wage and Hour Litigation, Paper presented at AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Annual Meeting on April 28, 2015.Publication
Editor in Chief, Wage and Hour Laws State by State Survey, BNA BooksPublication
Author, Law Review Article, American Bar Association Journal of Labor and Employment Law (Spring 2015)Publication
Board of Editors, Senior Editor, The Fair Labor Standards Act, TreatiseSpeaking Engagement
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. BaileySpeaking Engagement
June 3, 2010, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Conference, Enforcing State Wage and Hour Laws: A View From State Agencies, Moderator of Panel of Joanne Goldstein, Secretary of the Office of Labor and Workforce Development, State of Massachusetts, Teri Gerstein, Deputy Commissioner, New York State Office of Wage and Immigrant Services, and David Suetholz, General Counsel, Kentucky Labor CabinetSpeaking Engagement
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.Speaking Engagement
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.Speaking Engagement
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 SectionSpeaking Engagement
April 28, 2015, Conducting Wage and Hour Litigation, Spring Conference of the Lawyers Coordinating, AFL-CIO, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Shannon Liss-Riordan and Mark HannaYour browser is not fully compatible with our automatic printer friendly formatting.
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