Armin Moeller is a partner at Balch & Bingham LLP, at the firm’s office in Jackson, Mississippi
He’s been named a Mississippi Leading Attorney by Mississippi Business Journal. He’s been inducted into Human Resource Executive magazine’s Hall of Fame among “The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys.” And with a recent “Best Lawyers” distinction on the 2020 list, he’s now been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for his work in employment law- and labor law-management for 30 straight years.
Meet Armin Moeller, a New Orleans native and 1972 LSU Law graduate who has spent much of his nearly 50-year career practicing in Mississippi.
“I credit my LSU Law education for preparing me to grow and develop as a lawyer in both civil code and common law jurisdictions,” says Moeller. “In terms of the discipline, analysis, organization and troubleshooting required, everything I learned at LSU has served me very well.”
Moeller says the greatest highlight of his career was winning a $474.5 million verdict for the Mississippi State Tax Commission and Department of Information Services in a case involving a contract dispute with an IT systems provider hired to digitize the commission’s operations. He took the case in 1999 and saw it through to its conclusion in August 2000.
“The verdict continues to be the largest business and litigation case in terms of economic damages awarded in a breach of contract case,” he says. “That would have to be No. 1 in terms of my highlights, but I’ve had the privilege to work with a great, great number of wonderful clients, and I’m fortunate to continue to do so.”
After earning his undergraduate degree at Tulane, Moeller considered a number of law schools but chose LSU Law for three primary reasons: He considered the faculty to be among the very best, the LSU Law Center addition was brand new when he entered in 1969, and the school was significantly less expensive than most of its peers (he recalls his first semester of classes costing $125 total).
“My feeling has always been that I was at LSU Law during a renaissance period,” he says. “The faculty at the time included professors such as Yiannopoulos, Saúl Litvinoff, Wex Malone and Dale Bennett, all of whom were really in their prime—and, of course, the school was headed by Dean Paul Hebert.
“To use a common sports analogy, many of my professors left nothing on the field and they absolutely gave it their all,” he continues. “Every time I walked into a class at LSU, I felt that I was receiving an outstanding education and academic input.”
After graduating and passing the Louisiana Bar Exam in 1972, Moeller landed a federal field attorney position with the Nation Labor Relations Board. After about three years in the New Orleans regional office of the NLRB, Moeller passed the Mississippi Bar Exam and launched his career in private practice as a labor and employment lawyer in Mississippi, where he has been practicing ever since.
Looking back on his career, Moeller is quick to note that none of his accomplishments could have been possible without the LSU Law Center, which he’s been a strong supporter of for years.
“I’ve always felt I was given a real gift by the LSU Law school,” he says, “and therefore I should give back to the fullest extent I can because LSU has done so much for me.”
