Attorney Profiles

Cary S. McGehee is a founding partner of the law firm of Pitt, McGehee, Mirer, Palmer, Rivers & Golden P.C. established in 1992.  She has specialized in employment and civil rights litigation for 20 years.  She graduated magna cum laude from the Detroit College of Law in 1989. She has tried numerous civil rights  cases to verdicts in favor of her clients in the state and federal courts, including discrimination cases based on sex, race and disability, and cases alleging retaliation and sexual harassment, and violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

Cary has been listed in Best Lawyers in America as one of the best employment lawyers in the United States; has received the highest rating possible, AV, from Martindale-Hubbell's peer review national Legal Directory; and, since 2006 has been rated as one of the top employment lawyers in Michigan in Michigan Super Lawyer. In relation to her work as one of the trial attorneys in Neal v. Michigan Department of Corrections- a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of over 500 female prisoners in Michigan who had been sexually assaulted by male prison guards-  she was awarded:

The prestigious national award of Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Public Justice Foundation (2008) in honor of her outstanding contribution to the public interest; t he Lawyers for the People Award by the National Lawyers Guild (2008) in recognition of extraordinary commitment to uphold human, civil, and constitutional rights, and; th e Wade Hampton McCree Jr. Award (2009) for the advancement of social justice awarded by the Federal Bar Association.              

Cary is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, the Employment Law Committee for the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ), and the  Advisory Boards of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Michigan Interfaith Trust Fund (MITF).   She previously served on the Executive Board of the MAJ and the Board of Trustees of the Michigan Interfaith Trust Fund. 

Cary graduated from Bowling Green University where she received an athletic scholarship to play women's varsity basketball.  Following college, Cary played women's professional basketball for the Women's American Basketball Association as a team member on the Dallas Diamond National Championship Team. 

Cary is a frequent lecturer at seminars conducted by the Institute for Continuing Education and the Michigan Association for Justice.  She continues to be an avid participant in sports and is currently a Division I NCAA Women's Basketball Official.  In 2002, she was selected by the NCAA to officiate in the NCAA National Tournament. Cary is married to Michael Smith who is a sports administrator.