Daniel A. Rizzi
Employment Law - Garden City, NY

Employment law requires that attorneys relate well to everyone - not simply to high-level managers. The facts that you need to fully understand a case must be found in many corners of an organization. If you have respect for people, they will respect you and will generally be willing to be of assistance. In that respect, I've always felt that my personality was best suited to labor law, because it is by definition, people-oriented, and requires you to use all of your skills as an attorney and strengths as a person.

There is an unfortunate belief among the plaintiffs' bar that managers enjoy terminating employees. My experience is that nothing could be further from the truth. Terminating an employee is one of the most difficult and agonizing actions a manager can make, and particularly when the same manager hired the employee, is really an admission of failure. Particularly in today's high-tech world, employers make a big investment in every person they hire - and it's a great disappointment for everyone, not just the terminated employee, when a change must be made.

Effective and enlightened human resources management has recently become accepted as one of the most important, if not the most important, functions of any organization. Human resources, like financial resources, are precious and must be tended with care. An effective employment attorney will assist his/her clients in this area, and strive to prevent "fires" rather than simply putting them out. As such, training programs - from effective interviewing to sexual harassment - have become an increasingly big part of what we do for our clients. The practice of employment law is always changing, and it is critical that employment attorneys keep up with and get ahead of those changes. It is very satisfying to play a positive role in the success of our clients' businesses.

Daniel A. Rizzi
"I try to take problems off my clients' desks, and to solve them as independently as possible, so the clients can turn their time and attention to other important matters. I think they appreciate that approach."
Phone: (516) 832-7500
Fax:
 
 
Education
Georgetown University, BS, BA, 1978 (magna cum laude)
Georgetown University, JD, 1981; Editor, American Criminal Law Review

COMPILED FALL 2003
 
2004-07-27 14:28:45