Bruce P. McMoran

Bruce P. McMoran founded and led the firm for over 28 years until his passing in October 2025.

Bruce was not only a brilliant legal mind and tireless advocate for clients, but also a mentor, leader, and friend to all who had the privilege of working alongside him. He founded McMoran, O’Connor, Bramley & Burns, P.C., with a vision of excellence, integrity, and service, values that continue to guide our work every day. Bruce’s legacy will live on in the countless lives he touched, the cases he championed, and the strong foundation he built for the firm.

We are forever grateful for Bruce’s leadership, passion, and unwavering commitment to doing the right thing. He will be profoundly missed.

Background

During the early years of his career, Mr. McMoran represented only employers in employment law. He watched as the “social compact” which had existed between companies and their employees for generations slowly eroded away. That social compact was based on the mutual understanding that if the employee worked hard and was loyal to the company, then, in return, the company would be loyal and provide long-term job security and benefits to the employee.

Beginning in the late 1980’s, and continuing to date, companies have demonstrated less and less loyalty to their employees. Long-term, hard-working employees were terminated and replaced by younger employees or their jobs were “outsourced.”

As he saw the playing field being tilted more and more in favor of employers, Mr. McMoran began to represent employees against their employers. Following several significant courtroom victories against companies (see, Wall Street Journal, May 31, 1995, page 1), he shifted his practice to primarily representing individual employees.

Results

Mr. McMoran tried more than 200 matters before arbitrators, courts and administrative tribunals. He achieved among the highest jury verdicts in New Jersey for individual clients in employment cases, including jury verdicts of $8.4 million and $5.3 million, and was awarded membership in the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He settled numerous employment cases before, during and after verdict for amounts between $1 million and $7 million.

Under Mr. McMoran’s leadership, the firm has become one of the best-known and most successful employment law firms in New Jersey. In the process, the firm has recovered in excess of $120,000,000 for its clients. All of its attorneys are in Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers and Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

Awards

In 2016, the New Jersey Law Journal named Mr. McMoran as one of the three finalists for its 2016 Lawyer of the Year Award for his successful representation of an employee whistleblower against Johnson & Johnson before the New Jersey Supreme Court.

For more than 20 consecutive years, Mr. McMoran was chosen by his peers as a Super Lawyer and as one of the Best Lawyers in America. Several times he was named as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers by New Jersey Monthly Magazine in employment law. For more than 30 years, Martindale Hubbell awarded Mr. McMoran its highest possible peer review in legal ability and ethical standards rating (AV) and named him as one of the preeminent lawyers in the country. He was also repeatedly named as one of the top employment lawyers in the New York area.

Teaching

Mr. McMoran taught employment law to judges at the New Jersey Judicial College and served as Co-Chair of the Employment Law Trial Practices Sub-Committee of the NJSBA Labor & Employment Law Section. He was on the faculty of the Practicing Law Institute’s Annual Institute on Employment Law, and regularly taught lawyers in the area of employment law on the faculty of the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He had more than 25 years of experience teaching more than 50 courses in employment law,

Bar Admissions

Mr. McMoran was admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, Florida, and the District of Columbia, as well as before several federal district courts; the Second, Third and District of Columbia United States Circuit Courts of Appeal; and the United States Supreme Court.

He was a member of the American, New Jersey State, New York State, Florida State, and District of Columbia Bar Associates, and the Trial Lawyers of America.  A Master of the Bench of the Sidney Reitman Employment Law American Inn of Court, Mr. McMoran was Co-Chair of the NJSBA’s Employment Trial Practices Committee and served as Sub-Committee Chair of the NJSBA Labor and Employment Law Section.

Education

He received his B.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Miami.