ZAG - Key Persons
Charles Tracy is an Associate Attorney at Zipin, Amster & Greenberg, LLC, and is licensed to practice in Washington D.C and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Charles believes in providing zealous advocacy for his clients and prioritizing clear and consistent communication. Charles's practice is focused on cases where employers illegally withhold wages that an employee is owed, including overtime, minimum, and prevailing wages.
Charles previously served as a Staff Attorney at the U.S Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit's Staff Attorney's Office, where he provided the Court with recommendations on how to resolve a wide range of appeals, including employment litigation appeals. During law school, Charles served as a student attorney at the Public Justice Advocacy Clinic, where he provided legal assistance on a variety of issues, including in a wage and hour trial. Also during law school, Charles served as a legal intern at several nonprofit organizations and as an extern at the Pennsylvania Governor's Office of General Counsel in the Department of Labor and Industry.
Charles graduated from The George Washington University Law School in 2021, where he served as an Articles Editor on The George Washington Law Review.
Ms. Thomas is passionate about employment law and has spent most of her career litigating employment cases on behalf of employees. She is licensed in state and federal courts in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Texas. While her practice is now focused in Maryland and D.C., she has also spent many years litigating in Texas.
Prior to joining Zipin, Amster, & Greenberg, Ms. Thomas was the lead attorney for the Law Offices of Edith K. Thomas, PLLC, and before that worked at a nationally recognized employment firm in Dallas.
Ms. Thomas is proud that as an attorney at Zipin, Amster, and Greenberg PLLC, she can continue her work to help people dealing with serious employment issues such as discrimination at work, unpaid overtime, whistleblowers, and more. Ms. Thomas has significant experience handling matters involving both state and federal law, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Ms. Thomas has been Board Certified in Employment Law in Texas since 2014, a process that requires an application, peer, and judicial references, as well as an exam. The process is overseen by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Ms. Thomas is a member of the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Employment Lawyers Association and the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association and is a former Board Member at Large for the Texas Employment Lawyers' Association. She has been a speaker on employment law-related matters for several bar associations as well as co-authored articles for presentation. She has also been recognized in Texas by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in 2013-2015, and as a Super Lawyer from 2019-2022. Each year, Super Lawyers recognizes the top lawyers in Texas through a multiphase selection process that involves peer nomination, independent research, and peer evaluation. The lawyers that receive the highest point totals during the selection process for that year are acknowledged by Super Lawyers.
Ms. Thomas received her law degree from the Tulane University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Emmanuel ("Manny") Fishelman is a Partner at Zipin, Amster & Greenberg, LLC where he manages and oversees the personal injury department. Mr. Fishelman was born and raised in Queens, New York. He attended law school at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, where he served as the managing editor of the Journal of Business & Technology Law. Mr. Fishelman also authored a piece on patent litigation which was published. He was a recipient of the Leadership Scholarship and was an active member of the Latinx Law Student Alliance.
After law school, Mr. Fishelman went on to litigate personal injury and workers compensation cases in state and federal court at two reputable law firms in Maryland. He became a Partner at Zipin, Amster & Greenberg in 2022. Today, over 90-95% of Mr. Fishelman's clients are Spanish-speaking, and a large percentage are undocumented immigrants. As someone with a passion for helping communities of immigrants and minorities, Manny zealously advocates for his clients and fights to ensure that language and fear aren't barriers in the litigation process.
Mr. Fishelman is a former President of the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association and remains an active member of the Board of Directors. He currently sits on the executive committee of the MSBA's Young Lawyers' Section and is a member of the MSBA's Leadership Academy Committee. Mr. Fishelman also sits on the Board of Directors of the Community Law Center. He has been selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2018-2022. In 2019 and 2021, he received Bethesda Magazine's peer-voted award of "Top Personal Injury Attorneys" in Montgomery County. Mr. Fishelman was also a 2019 recipient of the Daily Record's Leadership in Law Generation JD award for his civic engagements." In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, watching baseball and football, and spending time with family.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Employment Lawyer
Gregg C. Greenberg is an employment lawyer. Mr. Greenberg represents employees and counsels small businesses in workplace disputes relating to the rate, method, and sufficiency of employee compensation.
The focus of Mr. Greenberg's practice is litigating claims wherein the central questions are often: (1) determinations of status or classification as an employee or independent contractor; (2) questions concerning overtime pay exemptions or exceptions under Federal and State wage laws; (3) questions of compliance with the "tip credit" exception to Federal and State minimum wage requirements; and (4) disputes as to owed or unpaid wages or commissions.
In Mr. Greenberg's career as an attorney, Mr. Greenberg has litigated several hundred Federal and State employment law claims including Class Actions and Collective Actions.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Contributing Editor of the ABA Labor
- Founding Partner of Zipin
- Member of the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Employment Lawyers Association
Michael Kingston Amster is a founding partner of Zipin, Amster & Greenberg, LLC, and has significant experience in diverse areas of employment law. Prior to co-founding Zipin, Amster & Greenberg, LLC, Mr. Amster was the principle attorney at Amster Firm, LLC in Rockville, Maryland. He has litigated numerous Federal and State employment law claims, including Class and Collective Action claims. His practice is heavily focused on employment law, with an emphasis on wage and hour cases brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act and corresponding state statutes such as the Maryland Wage and Hour Law. He is licensed to practice in the Maryland and Washington D.C. federal and state courts, U.S. Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, the United States Fourth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Amster has been a contributing editor of the ABA Labor and Employment Law Fair Labor Standards Act Treatise from 2014 to the present. He has been published in the Maryland Association for Justice Journal. He has been the featured speaker for several employment law conferences, including the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyer's Association Annual Conference, the D.C. Bar Association Changing Currents C.L.E., the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, and other legal and non-profit venues.
Mr. Amster is an active member of the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Employment Lawyers Association, the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association, and the Montgomery County Bar Association - Employment Law Section. Since 2012 he has been nominated by his peers as a Super Lawyer or a Super Lawyer Rising Star.
Mr. Amster graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2009, where he co-founded the Alabama Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review. He speaks fluent Spanish.
If you have any employment related questions, or have some other legal matter that requires attention, please contact Zipin, Amster & Greenberg, LLC for a free initial consultation.
Phil has lived in the District of Columbia area since 1979 and in Silver Spring since 1987. Following his graduation from Haverford College, he attended George Washington University Law School, graduating with honors in 1982. After practicing law in the District of Columbia and Rockville, he has maintained his office in Silver Spring since 1996.
Phil has focused on employment law for more than twenty years, representing many hundreds of clients in wrongful discharge, breach of contract, discrimination, and other employment-related matters. He has achieved particular success in wage & hour and overtime cases. In addition, he has counseled numerous small and start-up companies about their employment practices and assisted with their corporate needs.
Phil has received the Martindale-Hubbell AV Rating (the highest rating given) for high ethical standards and professional excellence. Phil has been recognized by his peers in both the Washington, DC and Maryland Super Lawyer magazines. He is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA), and the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association (MELA). He is licensed to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland and regularly appears in both Federal and State Courts and administrative forums.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Senior Associate
- Associate at Zipin
Robert Tucci is an associate at Zipin, Amster & Greenberg, LLC. He adopts a strategic, deliberative, and analytical approach to representation. He primarily practices in wage & hour litigation, including large multi-plaintiff collective and class actions, but has broad experience in most areas of employment law. Mr. Tucci is a pioneer in litigating claims under the Virginia Wage Payment Act, including serving as lead counsel in a case that obtained the first-ever Rule 23 class action certification on behalf of a class of approximately 500 manufacturing employees asserting claims arising under the VWPA for unpaid wages. See Stacy v. Jennmar Corp. of Va., Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82440 (W.D. Va. May 6, 2022).
Prior to joining ZAG, Mr. Tucci practiced at a boutique law firm in Northern Virginia, representing workers individually and in class and collective actions for a variety of employment issues, including wage and hour violations, FMLA claims, wrongful termination, discrimination, and retaliation. Mr. Tucci was the founder of the firm's wage & hour collective and class action practice group and was lead counsel for all matters on the collective/class docket. Before moving to the DMV area, Mr. Tucci practiced at a boutique law firm in Cary, North Carolina, focusing on wage & hour litigation.
In another life, Mr. Tucci had a successful career in sales and management working for one of the largest telecommunications companies in the country. He achieved multiple top sales awards and was selected for a prestigious leadership development program. His proudest moment was seeing his team achieve first-place in annual sales for the region during his first year in management.
Job Titles:
- Contributing Editor
- Partner
- Partner at Zipin Amster & Greenberg
Theodore Bruce Godfrey is a partner at Zipin Amster & Greenberg and has experience in wage and hour litigation, commission and bonus lawsuits, unemployment disputes and discrimination suits. He is licensed in Maryland and the District of Columbia including in federal court. Bruce joined the Firm in January 2023; previously he had been a partner at a large Montgomery County general practice firm in where he had worked for eight years in personal injury and employment litigation.
Bruce has served as a Practice Monitor for the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission for attorneys attempting to rehabilitate themselves after professional discipline. He is also a Peer Review Panel member with the Attorney Grievance Commission. Bruce has presented continuing legal education on employment law and on law office management at the Maryland State Bar Association and the Bar Association of Montgomery County. He has been named in multiple years in SuperLawyers.com as a leading attorney in employment law for workers.
Since 2017, Bruce has served as an annual contributing editor on a major Maryland criminal procedure reference manual for judges, prosecutors and public defenders. He is fluent in Spanish and German. Bruce is a graduate of Princeton University and of the University of Maryland School of Law. He lives in downtown Silver Spring and serves clients state-wide throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Attorney
- Member of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association
Thomas Eiler is an associate attorney at Zipin, Amster & Greenberg, LLC with a diverse legal background ranging from criminal matters to personal injury to employment law. Mr. Eiler has cultivated years of experience with complex federal and state civil procedure, discovery procedure, and courtroom procedure. Mr. Eiler has experience with all phases of litigations from inception through trial. His current practice focuses heavily on employment law where he prosecutes cases related to discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment claims in federal, state, and municipal government positions as well as small and large private companies. Mr. Eiler also prosecutes wage and hour litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act and analogous state laws in both single plaintiff matters as well as collective and class actions.
Mr. Eiler offers zealous, creative, and tireless advocacy to his clients to prosecute actions against their employers for their illegal and often devastating actions. He is licensed in the District of Columbia and Maryland as well as their respective United States District Courts at the federal level.
Mr. Eiler is a member of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the Maryland State Bar Association. Mr. Eiler is also an alumni of the American University Washington College of Law. While at the Washington College of Law, Mr. Eiler was a junior and senior staffer on the International Law Review and defended criminal actions as a member of the Criminal Justice Clinic. Mr. Eiler received his undergraduate degree from Washington State University.