Molly Elkin represents workers in large collective and class actions to recover unpaid overtime and minimum wages. She enjoys a national practice, representing unionized workforces and other employees seeking workplace justice and fair pay. In 2002, she was the first female lawyer elected into partnership, where she has paved the way for new women partners.
For the past two decades, Elkin has served as lead trial counsel in countless pay cases across the country. She has collected over $150 Million for workers in various professions, including computer specialists, fire fighters, meat packers, satellite dish installers, canine handlers, juvenile counselors, border patrol agents, firearms instructors, mortgage loan officers, police officers, correctional officers, and restaurant workers. In a recent Court Order, a judge declared that: “Ms. Elkin has demonstrated that she is a zealous advocate for her clients, and that she is an exemplary officer of the court.” In November 2017, the American Bar Association inducted Elkin into the prestigious College of Labor and Employment Lawyers as a fellow.
In addition to her robust nation-wide wage and hour practice, Elkin has won multiple jury verdicts in federal courts across the country in First Amendment and Title VII discrimination cases brought on behalf of America’s workers – workers who were retaliated against for speaking out on matters of public concern, workers who were fired or passed over for deserved promotions for associating with their union, and female workers who were discriminated against because of pregnancy, or who were subjected to a hostile working environment.
In over twenty years of practicing labor and employment law, Elkin has strived to remain kind and civil with adversaries, while holding firm to strong legal claims and zealously representing her clients. This can be a tricky balance, especially when an adversary does not care about civility, or does not follow the rules of discovery or ethics. Elkin has excelled at maintaining this difficult balance, in large part, she would argue, because she is a working mom – the ultimate balancing act.
Elkin served for 5 years as the Union-Employee Co-Chair of the ABA Labor and Employment Section’s Federal Labor Standards Legislation committee which has jurisdiction over the FLSA, the FMLA and Sarbanes-Oxley. Elkin is a regular speaker and moderator on ABA panels, as well as AFL-CIO panels, on issues involving the FLSA.
Elkin served for several years on the board of the Government Accountability Project- the Nation’s leading advocate for whistleblowers. She is also a board member of the PEN Faulkner Foundation. Since 2014, and upon an appointment by the Chief Judge, she has served on the United States Court of Federal Claims Advisory Committee on Civilian Pay. Prior to joining McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP in 1996, Ms. Elkin was assistant counsel for the National Treasury Employees Union.
