Daniel J. Moore

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Partner; Co-Leader,
Labor and Employment Practice Group, Harris Beach PLLC

Years in current role: 36

What is your biggest professional goal for the rest of this year?

My goal every year is to provide the best possible service to my clients at a reasonable and fair cost. With that said, this year with all the changes and potential changes that are taking place in New York and federal employment/labor law, my goal has been to both stay ahead of the curve in these areas and to get to as many of my clients and non-clients as possible with information on how best to protect themselves in this new environment. We typically do this through direct advice and guidance as well as through free webinars and legal alerts sent by email.

What do you expect to be the biggest challenges for the legal industry locally in the near future?

This ties in well with the prior question because I believe the wave of changes facing employers in the areas of, for example, salary and wage and hour minimums, protected leave, the changing interpretation of frequency of pay laws and restrictive covenants, to name a few, will greatly impact employers in this community. It will be a tremendous challenge for employers to stay on top of the law as it comes down from the legislature, the courts, the regulatory agencies interpreting these laws and the National Labor Relations Board. Employment law, at the moment, is a very volatile environment. Staying ahead of it and planning appropriately will be a challenge.

What are your favorite aspects of the types of law you practice?

Any lawyer who has taken a case through trial will tell you that the challenge of preparing for and litigating a case all the way to a verdict is the most satisfying aspect of being a lawyer. With that said, few employment cases in this era get as far as a jury verdict because of the inherent costs and risks involved in the trial process. For that reason, I think it is fair to say that it is also very satisfying to work through a challenging problem with your client and reach a resolution that you know has helped the client navigate through some very difficult legal waters.

What is your favorite time of year in the Rochester region and why?

Rochester is about equidistant between the equator and the north geographic pole, and for that reason, we get about as much seasonal variation as just about any place, so there is a lot to enjoy. As someone who likes to explore the outdoors, autumn, with its magnificent colors, the opportunities in this area for grand hikes and the promise of a successful football season, sits at the top of my list.

What career do you think you would have if you weren’t a lawyer?

The only other job I have held, besides being a lawyer, was as a Naval Officer. When the Navy paid for my college, I was obligated to serve for serve years. Although my reasons for entering the service had a lot to do with the incentive of free college tuition, I found that while I was assigned to a Destroyer and saw a chunk of the world, it was a nice life. If I couldn’t have eventually gone to law school, I think I would have liked to have made that my career.

This profile is part of our Labor & Employment Law Power List for 2024. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. View the full list at rbj.net.