By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

To say Richard Moot is a throwback to another era would be an understatement.

The third-generation trial lawyer retired last week at the tender age of 92, closing the book on a career that began in 1946 when he graduated from Harvard Law School.

On Wednesday, prior to being feted by his longtime firm, Damon Morey, Moot sat in his office with his wife, Barbara, and reflected on a career that spanned six decades.

"I stayed at it so long because I loved it," he said. "Most of the time I spent trying cases, and I love that those cases began with a problem and they ended when the problem was over. And in my case, most of the time it was over favorably for my client."

His career began in the U.S. Attorney's Office; he joined Damon Morey in 1958.

"In the beginning of my career I tried minor criminal cases. Then I went on to tax-fraud cases, which became my specialty. That's how I ended up getting the job at Damon Morey," he said.

He cited two cases that defined his career as a trial attorney.

The first was a class-action suit involving Bethlehem Steel. At issue was the company's decision to end retirement benefits for 20,000 non-union workers who were represented by Moot.

"Bethlehem attempted to cancel their retirement benefits and their life insurance," he said. "So I began the class-action. As you know, class-actions usually drag on forever (but) miraculously, we won in a year."

The case was heard by Buffalo Judge John Elfvin. Moot described it as the biggest win of his career.

"The judge determined as a matter of law that Bethlehem Steel had violated their contract with the non-union retirees," he said.

"That really did away with the case and, all together, each retiree recovered the value of the retirement benefits and the cash value of the life insurance, roughly $200 million," he said

The case was about more than money, however.

"It was tremendously rewarding in that these older couples were now retired and suddenly they lost those benefits. The satisfaction I got knowing that 20,000 families were relieved of this burden meant a lot to me," he said.

As for Moot's other career marker, "I argued a case before the Supreme Court of the United States and won," he said.

It involved Bell Aerospace in a dispute with plant foremen who wanted to organize a union.

The National Labor Relations Board said they could, but Bell argued that they were part of management and thus could not form a labor union.

Even for a veteran attorney such as Moot, who had practiced law for more than a decade when he appeared before the nation's highest court, were there any butterflies in his stomach the first time he rose to address the judges?

"In trial law, whether you go into a small county courtroom or into the Supreme Court of the United States, once you are on the stage, the butterflies are gone," he said. "Our boys played hockey, and the analogy is: Once they drop the puck, you are into the game."

Moot said he has seen numerous changes in the legal profession in the past 62 years.

An example: "The major change in trial work was the shift from courtroom cases to what I call paper trials," he said.

Very few cases make it to a jury verdict today, he added, compared to when he started his practice.

"Federal judges will tell you they are almost nonexistent except for in automobile accident cases," he said.

To what does he attribute the change?

Moot offered a refreshingly candid reply.

"The billable hour played a big part in the shift," he said.

"Trial lawyers could make more money by making motions and doing discovery than they could by trying the case. By dragging the case out, the lawyer makes more money."

He considers himself lucky, saying he practiced law for the love of the profession rather than for the money it would bring him.

He told the story of a New York City attorney who came to Buffalo many years ago. As the two men walked to court, the attorney told Moot that if he ever secured a million-dollar fee for a case, he would promptly retire.

Moot cringed.

"Those were the New York City billable-hour lawyers that never seemed to enjoy what they were doing," he said.

"That struck me as strange that he was doing it for nothing but the money. It was never about that for me; it was always about the case and helping the client get out of their difficulties."

Asked what he'll miss now that he is retired, Moot said one thing at the top of the list is the people he has worked with over the years.

"I'll miss being in the office ... the daily greetings and the camaraderie. And I'll miss coming into the city. (But) you might say that after 62 years of the law, I've had enough. And after 62 years of marriage, we are having the best time ever."