Attorney Profile

Practice Areas: Labor & Employment; Appellate Strategies; Closely-held Businesses; Corporate Trust; Eminent Domain
Areas of Emphasis: Employment Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Employment Counseling
Bar Admissions: New Jersey; U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey; New York; Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Education: Rutgers University School of Law - Newark, J.D., cum laude, 1998; Rutgers University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1994

Daniel W. Zappo

Partner

Daniel W. Zappo has considerable experience in employment and commercial litigation in federal and state courts, before various agencies, and the American Arbitration Association. Dan also practices litigation avoidance by regularly counseling employers of all sizes regarding the gamut of employment law matters, including creating and administering employee handbooks and policies, decision making regarding employee discipline and discharge, and applying the federal and state employment statutes, such as medical and family leave. Dan advises both employers and high-level executives and employees regarding preparing and negotiating employment agreements and separation agreements.

Dan is a former Law Clerk for the Honorable Donald S. Coburn for the New Jersey Appellate Division. During law school, he was an Articles Editor for the Rutgers Law Review. He authored "A Causal Nexus Approach to Title VII Disparate Treatment Claims," 50 Rutgers Law Review 1067 (1998). Based on this article, the Rutgers School of Law, Newark faculty awarded Dan the G.A. Moore Prize for distinguished work in Equal Employment Opportunity Law. At graduation, Dan was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Prior to attending law school, Dan worked for Senator Bill Bradley as his personal assistant in Newark, New Jersey.

Recently, Riker Danzig's labor and employment group was ranked among the leading practices in New Jersey by Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Business Lawyers, a legal publishing and recruiting firm.

The legal community has recognized Dan for his excellence as an Employment attorney. In 2011, the New Jersey Law Journal selected Dan as one of New Jersey's "40 Under 40" attorneys. The Law Journal selects annually the top 40 young lawyers in private practice whose achievements in the workplace and public service involvement distinguish them among their peers. LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell – a leading peer review rating service – has awarded Dan an AV® Rating, its highest rating. Additionally, Law and Politics Magazine has named Dan a Super Lawyer "Rising Star" annually from 2007 to 2012.

Speaking Engagements

Best Practices To Interview And Hire The Best Candidates In An Improving Economy, New Jersey Bankers' Association Employment Law Update Seminar, April 1, 2011.