Daryl L. Moore

Judge Moore co-leads AZA’s appellate practice group. He has prosecuted more than 100 appeals in state and federal courts. In one day in 2021, Judge Moore argued two governmental-immunity cases back-to-back in the Texas Supreme Court. He won both. The two cases he argued are City of San Antonio v. Armando D. Rioja and City of San Antonio v. Jimmy Maspero. Judge Moore is a go-to lawyer for high-stakes, high-profile, complex litigation. (He recently represented Ben & Jerry’s and Drake.)

Before joining AZA, Judge Moore earned recognition as one of Harris County’s best judges as the judge of the 333rd Civil District Court. He was named Trial Judge of the Year for 2018 by the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists (TACTAS). When he left the bench in 2020, Judge Moore was the highest-rated of the 84 elected trial-court judges in Harris County according to the Houston Bar Association’s biannual evaluation of jurists.

Judge Moore received the HBA’s President’s Award for Outstanding Service three years in a row in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He received his first President’s Award for his work for the Harris County Law Library and its award-winning bilingual publication of the Pro Se Litigant Handbook (Manual para Litigantes Pro Se). He received his second and third awards for his work inaugurating and then co-chairing the LGBTQ+ Committee of the Houston Bar Association.

Judge Moore has served on the Texas Pattern Jury Charge Committee (Green Book) and as the President of the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists (TACTAS). He was chair of the Appellate Practice Sections of both the State Bar and the Houston Bar Association and a director of the Litigation Section of the Houston Bar Association.

Since 1995, he has been board-certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He also served as chair of the Civil Appellate Board Certification Committee from 2008-2011, co-writing the exam for certification in civil appellate law.

Before becoming a judge, Judge Moore had his own law firm, Daryl L. Moore, P.C., where he practiced trial and appellate work in state and federal courts.

Judge Moore has taught at the University of Texas School of Law (Appellate Advocacy), the University of Houston Law Center (Legal Research and Writing; Appellate Advocacy), and South Texas College of Law (Trial and Appellate Procedure).

Judge Moore earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law and served as briefing attorney for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals after graduation. He then worked as an associate at a Houston law firm. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and has a master’s degree from Houston Baptist University.