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Is there such a thing? By plaintiff-side I mean consumer friendly firms or firms that litigate against corporate wrongdoers. I really enjoy the plaintiff-side more but half of them are solo/small firms that are equally unsavory. If there are reputable firms in So Cal area like the one I described, could you name some here? Thank you.

Robbins Geller in San Diego?

Robins Geller
Robins Kaplan
mckool smith
Bernstein Litowitz
Kirby McInerney
Hagens Berman
Lanier
Siprut
wolf haldenstein
Cotchett Pitre
Glancy binkow


That should get you started.

Rlabo wrote:Robins Geller
Robins Kaplan
McKool Smith
Bernstein Litowitz
Kirby McInerney
Hagens Berman
Lanier
Siprut
wolf haldenstein
Cotchett Pitre
Glancy binkow


That should get you started.

Very helpful. Thank you thank you <3

A good way to locate these firms is to check publication rankings law 360 and NLJ, for example. They'll usually have a "plaintiffs hot list" or a "most feared plaintiff firm" or top boutique ranking etc. This will give you a good sense of whos who in the field, then it's just a matter of seeing which firm has an office in socal. You can also follow the legal news and see what firms are filing cases you find interesting.

Harvard's private public interest firms list is pretty good too: http://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/ ... -guide.pdf (organized by geographic location with description of practice area, not filtered by compensation but could still be a helpful resource in sorting through these firms)

Anyone have any pay stats for any of these firms?

k5220 wrote:Harvard's private public interest firms list is pretty good too: http://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/ ... -guide.pdf (organized by geographic location with description of practice area, not filtered by compensation but could still be a helpful resource in sorting through these firms)

I know this is a late reply, but for anyone who sees this thread looking for advice, I have a pretty good working knowledge of top florida law firms, and this pdf has most of the best ones, though some newer or smaller ones are missing. There are firms with 2-3 attorneys pulling in 8+ figures a year in settlements and verdicts.

Searcy Denney, especially as long as Searcy is still the head, is gonna be the top "brand name" plaintiff firm in florida. Many of the other top firms were started by former attorneys there.

I don't have specific numbers for lower level stuff, but partners are those firms are gonna be somewhere in the 6 figures base and they have a pretty good amount of 7 figure cases, enough that the base would be only a fraction of total comp. If you end up there and are good you'll have a path to 7 figure years, and successful attorneys from those firms go on to open their own once they've got an area and referral base scoped out. If you're looking for other good firms, county and state trial lawyer organizations+AAJ are good places to look for who's who.

^ I know a few people at Searcy Denney. Associates have a base in the low 100s but bonus can be around 100% of base. Only bad thing is that some people who stay there will be career associates if they don’t move and open their own shop.

Anonymous User wrote:^ I know a few people at Searcy Denney. Associates have a base in the low 100s but bonus can be around 100% of base. Only bad thing is that some people who stay there will be career associates if they don’t move and open their own shop.

Yeah, Searcy Denney can be a bit of a career trap for people. Great lawyers and great resources, but the top attorneys are long timers and won't give up control as long as they're working. They've all earned that right though. Some are getting up there in age though, so there should be room in the relatively near future.

I definitely know people who've left top-tier firms for less "prestigious" or lower paying fields because they saw it as their way of advancing their career or just knew they didn't have the skills/talent/charisma/whatever to break through the ceiling to become a partner at an established firm or open their own firm and compete for great cases.

There's definitely a career to be made being referred the cases bigger firms pass on.

Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have any pay stats for any of these firms?

+1

Would love to know base salary + typical bonuses for first years at some of the securities litigation boutiques (Bernstein/Robbins Geller) in NY or SoCal.

Robins Kaplan pays market, or close to it.