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Mary Pivec | Of Counsel

For more than 40 years Mary E. Pivec has counseled employers dealing with government regulations, investigations and enforcement actions.

 

Rated by peers as AV Preeminent in the Martindale Hubble Attorney Survey, Mary is recognized as one of the most experienced and knowledgeable attorneys in the U.S. in the field of immigration-related worksite enforcement and compliance.  She has represented employers in over 100 Form I-9 inspections, immigration-related discrimination investigations, and OCAHO proceedings, has testified as an expert on I-9 compliance and immigration-related discrimination claims in civil and criminal litigation, and has trained and counseled hundreds of managers and human resource officers on immigration compliance issues.

 

Mary also represents employers in DOL H-1B/LCA enforcement audits and in appeal proceedings before DOL administrative law judges and the DOL Administrative Review Board.  Mary is a 1981 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law.  She is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Attorneys and has been listed annually in Best Lawyers in America in the field of Immigration Law since 1990.  Mary also served for nine years on the AILA Board of Governors and on numerous AILA liaison and advisory committees dealing with the issues surrounding immigration worksite enforcement and business immigration compliance.

 

Mary Pivec is the Founding Partner of employer compliance firm of Pivec & Associates, PLLC, located in northern Virginia, where her practice focuses on the intersection between government enforcement of employment and immigration law.

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Eductaion

  • University of Maryland Law School, 1981 (With Honors)
  • Johns Hopkins University, Master of Liberal Arts, 1977
  • Towson University, B.A., English & Spanish, 1972 (Magna cum Laude)

Bar Association and Membership

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), 1983-Present
  • Member, AILA Board of Governors (elected positions) (1989-1995; 1996-1999)
  • Member, Document Verification Liaison Committee (appointed positions) (2007-2013, 2016-2017); Chair
  • OCAHO Liaison Committee (appointed position) (1998-2002)
  • AILA Representative to the ABA Standing Committee on Immigration (appointed position (1998-2000); Member,
  • DOL Liaison Committee (appointed position) (1996-1998).
  • College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Member, Fourth Circuit Credentials Committee, 2016 – 2024.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, 1995- Present.
  • Virginia State Bar Association, 2005- Present.

Accolades

  • Fellow, ABA College of Labor and Employment Attorneys (Admitted 2010, Chicago, Ill.)
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Immigration Law (1990-2025) (Tier 1)
  • AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • “Baltimore and Washington DC’s Top Attorneys,” by The Washington Post, 2007-2026
  • “Washington, DC Super Lawyers” by Super Lawyers magazine, 2007-Present

Representative Speeches, Webinars and Presentations

  • Form I-9 and E-Verify Under Scrutiny: Avoiding Compliance Pitfalls and Discrimination Liability, 2026 AILA Annual Conference, June 20, 2026.
  • Representing Clients during ICE Audits and HSI Investigations, 2025 AILA Fall Conference, September 12, 2025, Boston, MA.
  • Hot Topics in I-9 Compliance and E-Verify, AILA South Florida 46th Annual Immigration Law Conference, February 20, 2025, Miami, FL.
  • How to Advise Employers after the Facebook Settlement: PERM Recruitment and Risk for IER Discrimination Liability, 2024 AILA Annual Conference, June 14, 2024, Chicago, IL.
  • I-9 Compliance for Corporate Clients, 2023 AILA Annual Conference, June 24, 2023, Orlando, FL.
  • The 2021 Enforcement Forecast for the USDOJ Civil Rights Division Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights, National Counsel of Agricultural Employers Labor Forum, December 3, 2020, Washington, DC.
  • The Intersection of Employment and Immigration Law, 2018 AILA Employer Compliance and Worksite Enforcement Conference, Boston, MA, August 10, 2018.
  • A Review of Notable ALJ and Circuit Court Decisions, 2017 Worksite Enforcement Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, February 10-11, 2017.
  • Worksite Enforcement and Hiring Foreign Workers in an Era of Increased Scrutiny, AILA Chicago Chapter Conference: The Business of Doing Business Immigration, October 21, 2016.
  • Update on Terminated U.S. IT Workers Rico Litigation, FBA Conference on Worksite Enforcement and Immigration, Chicago IL, April 20, 2016
  • Knowing your Clients’ Work Site Rights and Obligations, 37th Annual AILA South Florida Immigration Conference, February 3, 2016.
  • Strategies for Working Around the H-1B Shortage, 37th Annual AILA South Florida Immigration Conference, February 3, 2016.
  • Emerging Trends in Government Investigations, PLI’s 48th Annual Immigration & Naturalization Institute, New York, December 3, 2015.
  • Update on Compliance/Audit Issues, 2015 AILA Midwest Regional Conference, March 9, 2015.

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