Daniel I. Aquino

Daniel Aquino is a Chambers-ranked partner and the Co-Chair of McDonald Carano’s Employment & Labor Law Practice. He provides practical and strategic guidance to employers, including counseling companies on hiring, discipline, and termination; wage and hour compliance; leaves and accommodations; reductions in force and separation agreements; non-competition and confidentiality obligations; employee and independent contractor classification; and employment agreements, handbooks, and policies. Mr. Aquino also serves as Nevada counsel to national, multistate, and international employers on Nevada-specific compliance questions. His clients include startups, Fortune 500 corporations, privately owned businesses, public sector entities, public-private partnerships, and non-profit organizations.

Mr. Aquino routinely handles complex workplace investigations in response to claims of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other sensitive matters. He has conducted investigations for clients across a range of industries, including gaming and gaming suppliers, government services, construction, energy, economic development, restaurant, healthcare, professional services, higher education, manufacturing, technology, communications, entertainment, transportation, and resort and hospitality companies.

Mr. Aquino represents clients in a wide variety of litigated employment matters in state and federal courts, including collective and class action wage and hour matters, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, and breach of contract claims. He also routinely assists employers in administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Nevada Labor Commissioner (OLC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR).

Mr. Aquino handles cases through all phases of litigation, and has first-chaired bench and administrative trials, as well as private arbitrations. He also represents businesses and their owners in related commercial and business tort litigation, including disputes over contracts, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, and fiduciary obligations.

Mr. Aquino is recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the field of Employment & Labor Law. Various clients over the years have described Mr. Aquino’s work to Chambers, stating: “His ability to navigate complex legal challenges is matched by his strategic foresight, enabling him to align legal solutions seamlessly with business objectives.”; “Dan is a very effective lawyer, excellent communicator, responsive and he makes it his business to remain abreast of employment law.”; “Whether defending litigation or providing advice and counsel, he is so easy to work with, always responsive, incredibly knowledgeable, and professional.”

Mr. Aquino is the Nevada member of the Wage and Hour Defense Institute, an invitation-only network of experienced employer-side wage and hour defense practitioners across the U.S. and Canada. WHDI is a prominent resource on state and federal wage and hour law, including class and collective actions, for employers of all sizes and industries.

• J.D., cum laude, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly University of California, Hastings College of the Law), 2012
• B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Philosophy, 2008

• Nevada
• California

• First-chaired bench trial in breach of contract action involving wrongful apportionment of liquidated damages to subcontractor client on eight-figure public works construction project; obtained Court’s rejection of general contractor’s assessment of liquidated damages, resulting in award of client’s full requested damages, plus substantial prejudgment interest, attorney’s fees, and costs
• Conducted internal investigation into fraud committed by executive for gaming technology company and prosecuted resulting recovery action against former employee, including coordination with law enforcement and insurance carrier resulting in full recovery of damages
• Represented Fortune 10 company in defense of employee whistleblower retaliation claim, first-chaired two-day arbitration hearing resulting in defense award
• First-chaired bench trial on behalf of higher education institution seeking injunctive relief against former employee, resulting in issuance of protective order against former employee for maximum period allowed under Nevada law
• Retained by international energy company to coordinate and conduct large-scale confidential internal investigation responding to claims of misconduct by management
• Performed confidential investigation for public entity regarding executive official’s claims of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation
• Defended international construction company in hybrid Rule 23 and FLSA collective action involving alleged employee misclassification; managed internal investigation; opposed conditional certification (resulting in plaintiffs voluntarily narrowing a large subset of class); coordinated class discovery production; and obtained plaintiffs’ agreement to mediate individual claims
• Obtained dismissal of class claims filed against nationally-operating airport services provider in a Rule 23 wage and hour class action
• Represented hotel and casino in FLSA collective action for alleged violation of federal tip pooling law, successfully negotiating settlement at mediation
• Represented Nevada operations of global restaurant group in Rule 23 class action for alleged failure to comply with Nevada’s daily overtime requirements, successfully negotiating class settlement at mediation
• Litigated action involving gender discrimination, Equal Pay Act, and breach of contract claims brought by former financial executive of multi-national manufacturing company; negotiated settlement for fraction of multi-million dollar demand
• Successfully briefed U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in appeal involving termination of engineer for refusing to comply with procedure for mandatory respirator fitting; obtained reversal of the NLRB’s decision that hotel and casino client’s personnel actions violated the NLRA

• Lawdragon 500 X: The Next Generation – “The Future Leaders of the Law” (2025, 2026)
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business – Employment and Labor Law (Band 3 in 2026, “Up and Coming” in 2024 and 2025)
• The Best Lawyers in America – Employment Law/Management (2026, 2027), Employment & Labor Litigation (2023-2027), Commercial Litigation (2023-2027)
• Mountain States Super Lawyers – “Rising Stars” (2022-2026)
• Vegas Inc – “Top Lawyers” in Employment and Labor (2023, 2024)

• Author, “Status of DOL overtime rule,” McDonald Carano Legal Alert, November 18, 2024
• Author, “Costs are Key: Religious Accommodations in the Workplace after Groff v. DeJoy,” Communiqué magazine, Clark County Bar Association, November 2024
• Author, “Status of FTC Ban on Noncompetition Agreements,” McDonald Carano Legal Alert, October 17, 2024
• Quoted, “Practice Area Snapshot: Convergence of COVID Fallout and Other Factors Fuel Labor & Employment Law,” Of Counsel: The Legal Practice and Management Report, July 2023
• Author, “Nevada Court Rules Employees Turning Computers On and Off is De Minimis and Not Compensable,” McDonald Carano Legal Alert, June 12, 2023
• Author, “Nevada Supreme Court Rules Employees May Sue Employers for Failure to Accommodate Medical Marijuana Use,” McDonald Carano Legal Alert, January 25, 2023
• Quoted, “When is an Immediate Firing Justified?” SHRM.org, October 27, 2022
• Author, “Employee Misconduct, Poor Performance, Discipline, and Termination in the Workplace,” Las Vegas Sun, September 12, 2022
• Author, “Nevada Supreme Court Rules Employee’s Off-Duty Recreational Marijuana Use Not Protected Under “Lawful Use” Law,” McDonald Carano Legal Alert, August 24, 2022
• Author,” Nevada Supreme Court Rules Employees May Sue Employers for Failure to Accommodate Medical Marijuana Use,” McDonald Carano Legal Alert, August 12, 2022
• Author, “Employee Misconduct, Discipline, and Termination: Five FAQs for Employers,” McDonald Carano Legal Alert, August 1, 2022
• Author, “Nevada’s New Employment Laws: New Do’s and Don’ts for Retail Employers,” Nevada News published by the Retail Association of Nevada, July 2021.

• “Employment Law Priorities for In-House Counsel,” Association of Corporate Counsel, Nevada Chapter, February 18, 2026
• “Employment Law Priorities for In-House Counsel,” Association of Corporate Counsel, Nevada Chapter, February 20, 2025
• “Practical Considerations for In-House Counsel: Conflicts of Interest and Dual Roles,” Nevada System of Higher Education, April 2, 2024
• “Employment Law Priorities for In-House Counsel,” Association of Corporate Counsel, Nevada Chapter, February 15, 2024
• “Best Practices for the Higher Education Workplace,” College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, August 2022
• “Wage and Hour Issues,” National Business Institute, Las Vegas, NV, September 2019
• “Nevada Employment Law,” National Business Institute, Las Vegas, NV, September 2019
• “Unconscious Bias in the Workplace,” Nevada Labor & Employment Law Symposium, Las Vegas, NV, February 2019
• “Navigating the Modern ‘Gig Economy’: Worker Classification Challenges in a Changing Landscape,” Association of Corporate Counsel, Nevada Chapter, Las Vegas, NV, January 2019

• Member, Society for Human Resource Management
• Member, Wage & Hour Defense Institute
• Member, Advisory Board, Filipino American Lawyers Association of Nevada
• Member, Asian Bar Association of Nevada
• Member, Clark County Bar Association