Lawyers
J. Cecil Gardner
Of Counsel
Cecil Gardner specializes in union-side labor law, and has represented labor organizations before state and federal courts and various federal administrative agencies for the last thirty years.
Cecil is graduate of the University of Alabama Law School and is admitted to practice before all of the district courts in the State of Alabama, as well as the U. S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit, the Eleventh Circuit, the Federal Circuit, and the U. S. Supreme Court. He has been listed in Naifeth and Smith “The Best Lawyers in America,” Labor and Employment Law, in each of the editions of that publication.
Mary E. Olsen
Partner
Mary Elizabeth Olsen, admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts of Alabama (1994) and Florida (1995), has been associated with the firm in Mobile, Alabama, since August of 1994 and became a member of the firm in March 2002.
Her current practice primarily involves WARN Act litigation on a nationwide basis. She has prosecuted more than one hundred WARN Act cases and served as class counsel in at least thirty-five. In addition to her work at The Gardner Firm, Mary is also of counsel at the prominent New York City firm Lankenau & Miller, LLP.
Vance McCrary
Partner
Michael Vance McCrary graduated from Birmingham-Southern College in 1998. Vance received his law degree from the University of Alabama in 2001. While in law school, Vance clerked for several nationally recognized union-side labor law firms, including the predecessor firm to The Gardner Firm. Vance began work as an associate with the firm upon graduation from law school. He was made a full partner at the age of 30.
His current practice is primarily in the area of labor and employment law, and toxic torts. He is admitted to practice law in the state courts of Alabama and all federal district courts in Alabama, as well as the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Vance spends a great deal of his time in the litigation of mass tort, class action, toxic tort and complex product liability claims. He regularly litigates labor and employment cases before state and federal courts. And, he has successfully handled many administrative hearings.
Sam Heldman
Of Counsel
Sam Heldman’s practice focuses on briefwriting, at the appellate and trial-court level in both federal and state courts, and on pre-litigation strategy and research. He works, in this capacity, with lawyers outside the firm who desire assistance in this aspect of litigation, as well as with colleagues in the firm. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit sitting en banc, and many times before various federal appellate courts. His appellate practice includes criminal as well as civil matters on a wide variety of topics, including complex litigation, labor and employment rights, and constitutional matters.
Sam was first admitted to the bar in 1990, and has been with the firm in its Washington office since 1998. He graduated from Harvard College in 1986 and from Harvard Law School magna cum laude in 1989; during law school he was a member of the Harvard Law Review.
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