James Reif

A founding partner of Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, James Reif retired from the Firm and is now Partner Emeritus, serving in an advisory capacity. Mr. Reif has devoted his career to protecting employee rights and civil rights through litigation, writing, and teaching. Over several decades of practice, he has represented unions, workers, and individuals in complex employment and civil rights matters in both federal and state courts, including trial and appellate levels.

Mr. Reif has litigated groundbreaking wage and hour cases, including those that established the right to judicial enforcement of federal prevailing wage laws and the right to recover minimum wages and overtime compensation from entities that neither hire, fire, nor directly pay workers. His advocacy has extended to cases involving union democracy and the free speech rights of union members and officers, ensuring accountability and fairness within unions. He has also litigated employment discrimination cases and other claims under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.

In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Reif has authored widely respected scholarship on wage and hour laws and the rights of witnesses before grand juries. He co-authored and edited the leading treatise Representation of Witnesses Before Federal Grand Juries (Clark Boardman), and his article The Grand Jury Witness and Compulsory Testimony Legislation was published in The American Criminal Law Review. He has also been a frequent speaker at labor law conferences, where he has presented on wage and hour issues and other key employee rights topics.

Beyond his litigation and scholarship, Mr. Reif has provided critical advice and counsel to unions on internal governance, including union elections and financial affairs, and has represented scores of witnesses before federal grand juries. His deep expertise in this area has helped shape best practices in both union governance and criminal law procedure.

Prior to co-founding Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, he worked at the Center for Constitutional Rights and served as a VISTA volunteer attorney in Louisiana, where he began his lifelong commitment to civil rights advocacy.