Elizabeth Wiens

Elizabeth A. Wiens

Elizabeth Wiens joined Gursky Law Associates in 2003 after graduating ninth in her class at Roger Williams University, School of Law. As a law student, Ms. Wiens was a recipient of a Ralph R. Papitto Full Tuition Scholarship and a member of the Honors Program.  She became a shareholder in the firm of Gursky | Wiens effective July 1, 2014.

Ms. Wiens devotes a major part of her practice to the representation of unions in both the private and public sectors.  She regularly represents unions in discharge and contract interpretation cases in arbitration and has provided in-depth training for union business agents on how to present a case at arbitration.  She represents unions in federal court and Rhode Island state court, as well as at the National Labor Relations Board, the Rhode Island State Labor Relations and the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations.  Ms. Wiens has represented Taft-Hartley employee benefit funds on compliance issues and collection matters.  She has also represented individuals in employment and pension matters in federal court and Rhode Island state court, and before the Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island, the Providence Retirement Board and local school committees.  In addition to her general labor law practice, Ms. Wiens has represented both union and non-union employees and retirees in actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), State wage and hour laws and the Rhode Island and federal constitutions. She also represents aggrieved parties in actions under the Rhode Island Open Meetings Act and Access to Public Records Act.  She has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

Ms. Wiens is a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers’ Coordinating Committee, the Rhode Island Bar Association, the Greater Rhode Island Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, and the Labor Law & Employment Committee of the Rhode Island Bar Association.  She is a contributing author to A Practical Guide to Employment Law in Rhode Island, 1st Edition 2016 and has spoken on panels at numerous labor and arbitration conferences.

Education

  • State University of New York at Geneseo, BA, cum laude (Political Science), May 2000
  • Roger Williams University School of Law, JD, May 2003

Bar Admissions

  • Rhode Island Supreme Court (2003)
  • Massachusetts Supreme Court (2003)
  • United States Federal District Court for the District of Rhode Island (2004)
  • United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (2011)
  • United States Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts (2014)