John D. Moore: Pullman & Comley

Overview

John D. Moore, Connecticut Superior Court Judge (Ret.), is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice at Pullman & Comley. He focuses on the mediation and arbitration of civil disputes, particularly in the areas of personal injury, property damage, professional liability, attorney fee disputes, environmental issues, toxic tort and insurance coverage. He also handles family disputes, including both pre- and post-dissolution matters involving property distribution and child custody. He retired from the bench in December, 2023, after nearly ten years of service.

Judge Moore was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court in 2014. As a member of the bench, he concentrated on civil and family matters. Judge Moore resolved hundreds of diverse civil and family matters at settlement conferences or mediations. From 2019 through 2023, Judge Moore served as the Administrative Judge and the Presiding Judge of Civil and Family matters in the Judicial District of Litchfield. Before that, his judicial experience included one year sitting as a civil judge in the Judicial District of New Britain, and four years in the Judicial District of Litchfield mainly as a civil and family judge. While a judge, Judge Moore served on the Civil Jury Instructions Committee and was selected to instruct his colleagues on civil damages, insurance coverage and mediation at the annual Judges’ Institute.

Judge Moore’s prior experience includes 24 years in the Travelers Special Liability Group (now known as the Strategic Resolution Group), more than ten of which were spent as the group’s Associate General Counsel. At Travelers, he actively managed complex litigation brought either against the company’s policyholders or against the company itself. These matters included multi-party toxic tort or asbestos cases with claimed exposure over decades, coverage matters that arose against the company from such matters and asbestos bankruptcies. Virtually all of the cases involved multiple decision-makers for each party. While at Travelers, Judge Moore also developed extensive expertise in the negotiation of major asbestos bankruptcy settlements, as well as in the drafting of agreements pertaining to alleged and incomplete insurance policies, cost-sharing among multiple stakeholders, and named insured and successor issues. As a result of this work, Judge Moore gained a detailed familiarity with all aspects of liability insurance policies. Prior to working at Travelers, Judge Moore served as a trial attorney for six years at another Connecticut law firm, handling negligence, product liability and legal malpractice cases.

Judge Moore also developed experience in the field of legal ethics. For 24 years, he served on the Connecticut Bar Association’s Professional Ethics Committee, chairing sub-committees on attorney advertising and revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct, as well as fielding and responding to inquires posed to the Committee by telephone by members of the bar and the general public. Judge Moore taught Legal Ethics at the University of Connecticut School of Law as an adjunct instructor several semesters in 1991 and 1995.