Seder & Chandler LLP announces that Demitrios Moschos, Partner and Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice, received Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s inaugural Hall of Fame award. This award is given to extraordinary attorneys with over 30 years experience in the legal profession, who have made notable contributions to the legal field. D, as he is known throughout the Massachusetts legal community, is the only Central Massachusetts based attorney to receive the honor.
Moschos has had a remarkable 30+ year career, where he significantly impacts labor and employment law in Massachusetts and shepherds the development of emerging lawyers in the discipline. He serves as labor counsel for a broad spectrum of employers across the state and has held instrumental roles in drafting the Massachusetts Labor Statute and developing the State Joint Labor Management Committee.
Beyond his notable career, Moschos has fervently supported continuous legal education, often speaking at events and sharing his knowledge as an Adjunct Professor at Clark University School of Professional Studies. Additionally, he has held leadership positions in community organizations, including Chair of the Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Clerk of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.
Moschos, a former Captain in the United States Army, embodies a deep commitment to his community and country. His numerous accolades and board memberships reflect his substantial influence in the Massachusetts legal community.
Seder & Chandler LLP congratulates him on this well-deserved accolade, recognizing his persistent efforts and achievements in the legal community.
Feature on D. Moschos:
Worcester attorney Demitrios M. Moschos, widely seen as an unofficial dean of labor and employment lawyers in Massachusetts, has spent a half century serving as labor counsel for numerous public employers across the commonwealth while also representing private businesses in employment disputes.
In the process, his work has led to significant changes in the labor landscape, particularly in the public sector.
For example, in the 1980s, Moschos, while serving as labor counsel to the town of Holden, negotiated into its police contract the very first no-smoking provision in a labor contract anywhere in the United States. “You can’t be a smoker and also a police officer,” he says. “There were certainly dissenters, but from the town’s point of view, it was a positive factor in maintaining a healthy police force.”
Additionally, Moschos handled a landmark dispute before the State Labor Relations Commission (now the Department of Labor Relations) that secured management rights for public employers. Prior to that decision, unions contended that all workplace decisions by management had to be bargained at all times and that such a right couldn’t be waived. “This promoted efficiency and effectiveness of government,” says Moschos. “If you had to bargain everything all the time, it would stymie your ability to be efficient.”
Moschos also drafted the 1977 statute that created the Massachusetts Joint Labor Management Committee, which helps municipalities and police/firefighter unions resolve management disputes before needing to go to arbitration, and served as a management chair.
“Since [the committee’s creation], to my knowledge there’s never been a police or fire strike, unlike in other parts of the public sector,” Moschos says. “I think the committee has been very successful in stabilizing public safety negotiations.”
Meanwhile, Moschos drafted the statutes that established the ability for municipalities to enter into employment contracts with managers, administrators, executive secretaries and administrative assistants and a related provision that established employment contracts for appointed municipal treasurers, accountants and assessors. “This has stabilized the employment relationship,” says Moschos. “If the manager and the board of selectmen can determine a manager’s condition of employment, there’s stability for managers, who can have a three year term of office and have some protections relative to their tenure.
In today’s changing political scene, that’s particularly important.” In fact, Moschos points to the current tone of political discourse as the biggest, most challenging change he’s seen over the years. “This polarization we have in our society may be impacting collective bargaining,” says Moschos. “We need to lower our voice and we need to focus on solving problems and we need to be flexible. Society is not as conciliatory as it had been when I started practicing, and I’m concerned about that.” MLW, Hall of Fame 2023
To read the full version of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame Special Supplement, click below:
Members of Seder and Chandler attended the award luncheon in Boston.