Daniel E. Farrington
Regional Managing Partner
Overview
Dan Farrington is a Chambers-ranked employment litigator with nearly thirty years of experience representing major airlines and other large employers in high-stakes disputes. He is recognized by Chambers & Partners for his “deep experience advising clients in the aviation sector on labor and employment disputes” and serves as Managing Partner of Fisher Phillips’ Washington, D.C. office, Co-Chair of the firm’s Transportation and Supply Chain industry group, and Chair of its Aviation industry sub-group.
Dan’s litigation practice centers on sensitive, high-consequence employment disputes, including discrimination and harassment claims, accommodation and leave issues, and employee defection and restrictive covenant matters. For airline clients, Dan also handles industry-specific AIR21 whistleblower cases and engages with federal agencies when enforcement priorities implicate broad workplace policies or seek systemic relief. He is often brought into matters around the country when disputes require disciplined fact development, careful messaging, and decisive strategy, including litigation involving senior-level employees and matters likely to draw public attention. Dan’s clients describe him as “a smart experienced trial attorney who exhibits tremendous practicality” and a “gifted strategist” whose “clarity of thought is a particular benefit.”
Counseling is an integrated part of Dan’s practice, particularly where an organization needs a strategic approach that balances compliance and practicality. He is routinely asked to lead sensitive internal investigations and to help leadership teams frame and navigate high-consequence people decisions with a clear-eyed view of legal exposure, escalation risk, and business realities. In this work, clients describe Dan as “an indispensable partner in sensitive matters” and “a go-to for advice on thorny internal matters.”
Dan is also frequently called upon to support complex M&A transactions, working alongside top-tier transactional counsel to assemble and coordinate labor and employment teams focused on deal-critical workforce issues. In this role, he helps guide deal counsel through labor, employment, and wage-and-hour risks identified during diligence, with a focus on practical solutions that protect business continuity and support post-closing integration.
Dan is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, and clerked for the Honorable J. Frederick Motz, then Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Before opening Fisher Phillips’ Washington, D.C. office, he founded and led a Chambers-ranked boutique employment defense law firm with a national practice. Dan has also practiced law at O’Melveny & Myers and served in a non-partisan employment law counseling and litigation role in the United States Senate, experience that continues to shape his judgment in matters involving political sensitivity, public scrutiny, and complex stakeholder dynamics.