Attorney Profile

Michael S. Wolly, senior principal, has been practicing labor and employment law for 39 years. He is a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers who has been involved in many complex lawsuits and administrative proceedings involving disputes under the Railway Labor Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the Interstate Commerce Act, and federal employment discrimination statutes. He has conducted collective bargaining negotiations in the public and private sectors and has appeared before numerous Presidentially-appointed Emergency Boards and arbitration panels addressing resolution of nationwide collective bargaining disputes. He has frequently been honored by his peers by selection as one of Washington DC’s Best Lawyers in his specialty.

Mr. Wolly is General Counsel of the American Train Dispatchers Association; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers District of Local 32BJ, SEIU; and the Railroad Coordinating Council of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He also serves as counsel to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the Joint Council of Unions at the U.S. Government Printing Office, and the American Association of University Professors.

Mr. Wolly counsels individuals in employment matters as well, and is intimately familiar with the rights of federal, state, and local government workers, having spent many years as counsel for various groups of public employees.

A long-time member of the American Bar Association's Sections of Litigation and Labor and Employment Law, including the Committee on Railway and Airline Labor Law, for 11 years he also co-authored an annual report on developments in constitutional law which impact public employees for the Committee on State and Local Government Bargaining. He is also the author of numerous law review articles and ABA papers on topics of interest to the labor and employment bar. He regularly makes presentations at professional seminars and union meetings and conventions, for which he often serves as parliamentarian. He is a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians.

Mr. Wolly is a member of the bars of the State of New York, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, eleven U.S. Courts of Appeals, six U.S. District Courts and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In all, he has appeared in federal or local courts in 40 states and the District of Columbia. He also represents clients before the NLRB, the National Mediation Board, the EEOC, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the Surface Transportation Board, the Federal Railroad Administration, and in private arbitrations.

Mr. Wolly received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from George Washington University in 1969 and is a 1972 honors graduate of GWU’s National Law Center. After working as a legal assistant for the trial examiners (now administrative law judges) of the National Labor Relations Board during law school, he joined the NLRB as a trial attorney representing the government in appellate court and contempt of court litigation. Among the numerous cases he handled for the NLRB was the lengthy J.P. Stevens contempt litigation which among other things reversed the firing of the union activist who inspired the movie Norma Rae.

Outside the office, Mr. Wolly has served as President of the Greater Washington, DC/ Virginia Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America and President of Temple Beth Ami in Rockville, Maryland. He is married and the father of three sons.

1025 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 712, Washington, D.C. 20036

Phone: (202) 857-5000 --- Fax: (202) 223-8417

www.zwerdling.com