AMA Plaintiffs Employment Lawyer Forum

[Lacepiece23]

$250k per year as a Plaintiff's attorney is doable in just about any specialty in just about any part of the country. Nothing to see here.

Assuming that’s true, that’s legitimately surprising. I’m currently a mid level selling my soul in biglaw. I figured most plaintiff side owners didn’t even make six figures. Obviously I knew some made serious bank.

But if I could *net* 250k+ helping folks out who got injured or screwed over by a boss, I’d quit my job ASAP.

You can; just won’t happen year 1. Might take a couple of years but you will probably always make that or more as a solo.

Having overhead and trying to scale complicates the equation.

[nealric]

$250k per year as a Plaintiff's attorney is doable in just about any specialty in just about any part of the country. Nothing to see here.

Assuming that’s true, that’s legitimately surprising. I’m currently a mid level selling my soul in biglaw. I figured most plaintiff side owners didn’t even make six figures. Obviously I knew some made serious bank.

But if I could *net* 250k+ helping folks out who got injured or screwed over by a boss, I’d quit my job ASAP.

You can; just won’t happen year 1. Might take a couple of years but you will probably always make that or more as a solo.

Having overhead and trying to scale complicates the equation.

I'd also advise having a decent financial safety net if you are setting out solo. Maybe you get lucky and cases come in the door right away, but I've seen folks lose money on net for several months. Even if you get work right away, it can take time to get paid. Be ready to go six months+ without a paycheck when just setting out. Not like biglaw where you get a reliable direct deposit every 2 weeks.

[OldSchoolLitigator]

I've been a solo for 20+ years and never made less than 6 figures, except the first year, but even that was pre 7% inflation.

Unless your dad (or mom) is in the same specialty, no one is going to hand you cases and no one is going to school you on best practices.

You have to be willing to hustle, meaning market your practice to adjacent specialties, make cold calls to essentially your competitors to ask for advice, take the chance of extending case law and looking like a fool in front of a federal judge.

If you are hoping for just a paycheck, you'll be setting yourself up to fail.

[Anonymous User]

Longtime TLS member. Did one of these before. I did five years in biglaw. Had a short stint as a federal clerk. And now own a plaintiffs employment law firm.

I have an associate, operations manager, and receptionist. Looking to expand.

I did one of these threads when I first started. I’m now about 4 years in. Happy to answer questions based on my experience so far.

Cool that you’re doing this.

Did you have trial experience before you started your firm? Take depositions? Motion practice?
If no or not much, how was the transition to doing those activities?


How much do you spend on marketing/website upkeep?

[Lacepiece23]

Longtime TLS member. Did one of these before. I did five years in biglaw. Had a short stint as a federal clerk. And now own a plaintiffs employment law firm.

I have an associate, operations manager, and receptionist. Looking to expand.

I did one of these threads when I first started. I’m now about 4 years in. Happy to answer questions based on my experience so far.

Cool that you’re doing this.

Did you have trial experience before you started your firm? Take depositions? Motion practice?
If no or not much, how was the transition to doing those activities?


How much do you spend on marketing/website upkeep?

Yes, I had trial experience, deposition experience, and motion pratice experience. I was intentional in biglaw to seek out these experiences. Trial was a bit lucky because there was a 1893 prisoner case that no one wanted. I don't think any of this is necessary but nice to have the confidence that I could do it by myself before I did.

I spend about 20-25k a year on marketing/website upkeep. I did a lot of SEO myself at first but not I've offloaded that. Works out well because 90% of my cases come off Google to this day.

[Anonymous User]

Yes, I had trial experience, deposition experience, and motion pratice experience. I was intentional in biglaw to seek out these experiences. Trial was a bit lucky because there was a 1893 prisoner case that no one wanted. I don't think any of this is necessary but nice to have the confidence that I could do it by myself before I did.

So does that mean that you had done one trial before you went out on your own? Or you had done more trials but just one trial solo? (By “doing a trial” I mean first or second chair where you’re at counsel table through the whole thing, not just part of being a trial team.)

Neither of those seems like a lot of experience to me, which I don’t mean as criticism at all; obviously it’s worked out for you and my opinion on this doesn’t matter. I’m just always interested in what different people feel is necessary experience to be able to go out on their own. (Recognizing of course that the vast majority of civil cases don’t go to trial, so other skills are proportionately more important. How many cases had you settled or gone to mediation on before you went out on your own?)

[Lacepiece23]

Yes, I had trial experience, deposition experience, and motion pratice experience. I was intentional in biglaw to seek out these experiences. Trial was a bit lucky because there was a 1893 prisoner case that no one wanted. I don't think any of this is necessary but nice to have the confidence that I could do it by myself before I did.

So does that mean that you had done one trial before you went out on your own? Or you had done more trials but just one trial solo? (By “doing a trial” I mean first or second chair where you’re at counsel table through the whole thing, not just part of being a trial team.)

Neither of those seems like a lot of experience to me, which I don’t mean as criticism at all; obviously it’s worked out for you and my opinion on this doesn’t matter. I’m just always interested in what different people feel is necessary experience to be able to go out on their own. (Recognizing of course that the vast majority of civil cases don’t go to trial, so other skills are proportionately more important. How many cases had you settled or gone to mediation on before you went out on your own?)

I tried two cases as first chair doing all examinations, opening, and closing before going out on my own. None of this was necessary. I am a trial instructor for the national plaintiffs employment lawyer association and I can tell you that the average lawyer with ten plus years of experience hasn’t tried a case as a first chair.

I had never settled a case or done a mediation before I went out in my own. I barely even talked to a client except my pro bono clients. It was a learning curve for sure. I would value this experience much more than trial experience. You can go decades on both sides of the v not trying a case. I’m trying to settle two cases a month, however.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a civil solo as well, and before that I was an Assistant Federal Public Defender, where I tried federal criminal cases and did federal apellate oral arguments within 3 months of passing the bar.

I have an honest question. If BigLaw lit associates aren't even settling cases or communicating with clients, what are they doing? Just doc review?

[Anonymous User]

Yes, I had trial experience, deposition experience, and motion pratice experience. I was intentional in biglaw to seek out these experiences. Trial was a bit lucky because there was a 1893 prisoner case that no one wanted. I don't think any of this is necessary but nice to have the confidence that I could do it by myself before I did.

So does that mean that you had done one trial before you went out on your own? Or you had done more trials but just one trial solo? (By “doing a trial” I mean first or second chair where you’re at counsel table through the whole thing, not just part of being a trial team.)

Neither of those seems like a lot of experience to me, which I don’t mean as criticism at all; obviously it’s worked out for you and my opinion on this doesn’t matter. I’m just always interested in what different people feel is necessary experience to be able to go out on their own. (Recognizing of course that the vast majority of civil cases don’t go to trial, so other skills are proportionately more important. How many cases had you settled or gone to mediation on before you went out on your own?)

I tried two cases as first chair doing all examinations, opening, and closing before going out on my own. None of this was necessary. I am a trial instructor for the national plaintiffs employment lawyer association and I can tell you that the average lawyer with ten plus years of experience hasn’t tried a case as a first chair.

I had never settled a case or done a mediation before I went out in my own. I barely even talked to a client except my pro bono clients. It was a learning curve for sure. I would value this experience much more than trial experience. You can go decades on both sides of the v not trying a case. I’m trying to settle two cases a month, however.

Thanks for in indulging my curiosity. Yeah, I can get how talking to clients and settling/mediating would be more pertinent. (I’m not in big law and have spent most of my career in criminal, so different culture around trial.)

[Lacepiece23]

I'm a civil solo as well, and before that I was an Assistant Federal Public Defender, where I tried federal criminal cases and did federal apellate oral arguments within 3 months of passing the bar.

I have an honest question. If BigLaw lit associates aren't even settling cases or communicating with clients, what are they doing? Just doc review?

I wrote a lot of briefs. Took a lot of depositions, it that was specific to my practice groups. Lots of research. Some doc review, not much at my firm.

But yeah, it’s a lot of grunt work.

[Anonymous User]

i'm doing biglaw and this thread has me inspired. I'm thinking PI.
Do you think it would make sense to work at a personal injury shop for a year or two and then just open my own spot?
I *assume* it's easy to pick up the nuance about the area, but I have no idea if that's the case.

[Anonymous User]

I went from burnt-out assistant federal public defender straight to solo civil plaintiff's lawyer and probably tripled my income. IMHO, litigation is litigation. The same judges are presiding over multiple types of cases. The case elements just change from case to case.

[Lacepiece23]

i'm doing biglaw and this thread has me inspired. I'm thinking PI.
Do you think it would make sense to work at a personal injury shop for a year or two and then just open my own spot?
I *assume* it's easy to pick up the nuance about the area, but I have no idea if that's the case.

I personally would. There are multiple advantages. 1) you’ll fill in some of the gaps in your knowledge. Chances are you’ve never handled a case by yourself. 2) will give you some time to network and think about marketing. PI is insanely competitive, you’ll want to have a good plan in place. 3) you can probably take a few cases with you when you leave so you’re not starting from scratch.

My friend did the above and it worked out for him.

[crazywafflez]

I went from burnt-out assistant federal public defender straight to solo civil plaintiff's lawyer and probably tripled my income. IMHO, litigation is litigation. The same judges are presiding over multiple types of cases. The case elements just change from case to case.

Would you mind private messaging me? I'd really like to pick your brain some, please!

[Anonymous User]

Yes, I had trial experience, deposition experience, and motion pratice experience. I was intentional in biglaw to seek out these experiences. Trial was a bit lucky because there was a 1893 prisoner case that no one wanted. I don't think any of this is necessary but nice to have the confidence that I could do it by myself before I did.

So does that mean that you had done one trial before you went out on your own? Or you had done more trials but just one trial solo? (By “doing a trial” I mean first or second chair where you’re at counsel table through the whole thing, not just part of being a trial team.)

Neither of those seems like a lot of experience to me, which I don’t mean as criticism at all; obviously it’s worked out for you and my opinion on this doesn’t matter. I’m just always interested in what different people feel is necessary experience to be able to go out on their own. (Recognizing of course that the vast majority of civil cases don’t go to trial, so other skills are proportionately more important. How many cases had you settled or gone to mediation on before you went out on your own?)

I tried two cases as first chair doing all examinations, opening, and closing before going out on my own. None of this was necessary. I am a trial instructor for the national plaintiffs employment lawyer association and I can tell you that the average lawyer with ten plus years of experience hasn’t tried a case as a first chair.

I had never settled a case or done a mediation before I went out in my own. I barely even talked to a client except my pro bono clients. It was a learning curve for sure. I would value this experience much more than trial experience. You can go decades on both sides of the v not trying a case. I’m trying to settle two cases a month, however.

Nice. And very cool you're doing this AMA. In terms of practice area. did you have a lot of employment experience before you went out on your own? If not, what made you choose employment law as opposed to something else? And was it a steep learning curve?

[Lacepiece23]

Yes, I had trial experience, deposition experience, and motion pratice experience. I was intentional in biglaw to seek out these experiences. Trial was a bit lucky because there was a 1893 prisoner case that no one wanted. I don't think any of this is necessary but nice to have the confidence that I could do it by myself before I did.

So does that mean that you had done one trial before you went out on your own? Or you had done more trials but just one trial solo? (By “doing a trial” I mean first or second chair where you’re at counsel table through the whole thing, not just part of being a trial team.)

Neither of those seems like a lot of experience to me, which I don’t mean as criticism at all; obviously it’s worked out for you and my opinion on this doesn’t matter. I’m just always interested in what different people feel is necessary experience to be able to go out on their own. (Recognizing of course that the vast majority of civil cases don’t go to trial, so other skills are proportionately more important. How many cases had you settled or gone to mediation on before you went out on your own?)

I tried two cases as first chair doing all examinations, opening, and closing before going out on my own. None of this was necessary. I am a trial instructor for the national plaintiffs employment lawyer association and I can tell you that the average lawyer with ten plus years of experience hasn’t tried a case as a first chair.

I had never settled a case or done a mediation before I went out in my own. I barely even talked to a client except my pro bono clients. It was a learning curve for sure. I would value this experience much more than trial experience. You can go decades on both sides of the v not trying a case. I’m trying to settle two cases a month, however.

Nice. And very cool you're doing this AMA. In terms of practice area. did you have a lot of employment experience before you went out on your own? If not, what made you choose employment law as opposed to something else? And was it a steep learning curve?

No experience in employment law. If you're a reasonably smart person, it's something you can learn. The broad strokes are easy. The nuances can be complex but after a few years, you should learn the ins and outs

I chose employment because I feel like it's fairly close to the types of public interest stuff I was interested in during law school, except I can also make a lot of money. We're dealing with civil rights statutes.

PI pays a lot more, though. Most of my solo friends clear 500k+ without doing nearly as much work as I do. Sometimes I wish I just did that.