David P. Hiester is Senior Counsel in the Philadelphia office of GRSM and is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Practice Groups. David represents employers in both federal and state court, as well as before administrative agencies, with respect to all aspects of labor and employment law in both union and union-free environments.

David possesses a great deal of traditional labor experience, having practiced for almost eight years at a boutique public-sector labor firm in Southern New Jersey prior to joining GRSM. The firm’s practice specifically focused on representing the collective-bargaining needs of law-enforcement and firefighter unions throughout the state, allowing David to gain significant experience before New Jersey’s Public Employment Relations Commission in matters ranging from contract negotiations, unfair practice charges, grievance arbitrations, and scope-of-negotiations petitions. He also gained valuable trial experience in both New Jersey Superior Court and in New Jersey’s Office of Administrative Law, and has briefed and argued multiple cases before New Jersey’s Appellate Division. Notably, David sat second chair and co-authored several briefs defending against the vacatur of an arbitration decision awarded in favor of a large law-enforcement union that ultimately found its way into the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and, on appeal, at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The case specifically involved the interplay between the Railway Labor Act and the independence and autonomy generally reserved to an office of inspector general under the Inspector General Act of 1978.

At GRSM, David now represents employers in a whole host of industries, including but not limited to the healthcare industry, hospitality and hotel services, the automotive industry, the shipping and maritime industry, and food services.  David had successfully arbitrated grievances, defended against countless unfair labor practice charges in front of the NLRB, and has extensive table experience negotiating collective bargaining agreements for all of his clients.  In addition, David has assisted his clients in avoiding strikes and work stoppages and has successfully defeated union organizing drives.

David earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Widener University School of Law, where he graduated cum laude. During his first two years of law school, David completed two judicial internships at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, serving under both the Honorable Judge William J. Mazzola and the Honorable Judge Allan L. Tereshko.

In his final year of law school, David was hand-selected by the law school’s dean and former Delaware Supreme Court Justice Randy J. Holland to serve as one of only five Josiah Oliver Wolcott Fellows for the Delaware Supreme Court. As a Wolcott Fellow, David spent his 2010-2011 academic year clerking for Delaware Supreme Court Justice Henry DuPont Ridgley, where his responsibilities included briefing Justice Ridgley on the intricacies of the Court’s forthcoming oral arguments and assisting Justice Ridgley in drafting the Court’s opinions.

Admissions

• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit