A practical and results-oriented attorney, Dan Rizzi has established himself as one of the leading management labor and employment attorneys in the New York area, representing a diverse group of employers ranging from Fortune 50 corporations to much smaller enterprises. The 47-year-old Westbury resident is a partner with Nixon Peabody, a national law firm with 650 attorneys and 13 offices, including the 45-attorney Garden City, Long Island, office where Mr. Rizzi works. A magna cum laude graduate of Georgetown University, and Georgetown's Law Center, Rizzi's labor law career began when, while still attending college, he convinced the NLRB to allow him to intern with its General Counsel's staff in Washington, D.C. "I had the privilege of working with many of the same people who now run the agency's regional offices, and they were a big help in getting me started on a career in labor law. I will always be grateful for the chance they gave me." During his 20+ year career, Rizzi has worked for several of the country's biggest and best labor and employment law firms. He has seen the practice develop from one primarily focused on labor law and collective bargaining, to one with a greater emphasis on the litigation of various types of discrimination claims, including sexual harassment cases. "On any given day, we may be called upon to deal with dozens of different issues and problems - all of which fall within the broad area of labor and employment law. Every day is challenging and requires you to call upon many different skills."

Rizzi has built a very successful practice because he strives to fully understand and to meet the particular needs of his clients. "Every company with at least one employee is a potential client; but every client may have a different approach. It is my job to make sure that they are fully informed of their options, and to offer a practical, cost-effective approach so they can focus on running their business. It is important to be creative, because the laws and issues are very complicated and challenging. The instincts that one develops after years of practice also come in very handy. Perhaps like no other area of law, being a labor and employment attorney is really an extension of who you are as a person. To do your job effectively, you have to be able to relate to people at all levels with an organization -- from the janitor to the CEO."

With more than 3 million people and 80,000 businesses, many in a state of flux, Long Island has been and continues to be the venue for many high-profile discrimination cases. Rizzi has developed particular expertise in litigating such cases, and as importantly, in the alternate-dispute techniques which can bring them to successful resolution. "Because of their subject matter, there is a great deal of emotion involved in employment cases. Part of the job of an effective attorney - on both sides - is to remove as much of the emotion as possible so that the parties can resolve the matters in ways that make sense. Litigation is very expensive and time-consuming, and is should not be viewed as the only way to resolve disputes." The father of two high-school age boys, Rizzi and his wife spend a great deal of their free time at their sons' high school sporting events. "I love spending as much time as I can at my sons' baseball and football games. The fact that I work in the same community in which I live allows me to do so, and to become involved in many local activities. Long Island is a great place to live and to work because it has so much to offer."