Are there any "prestigious" plaintiff's firms that hire recent grads in NYC? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Former biglaw lit junior now at one of these top plaintiffs lit boutiques as a midlevel. Seen it from both sides.

1 - hours. I work more hours on the plaintiffs side than biglaw, by a decent chunk. But it’s totally different hours - I spend my time doing legitimate work. For instance I’m going to trial shortly, and I’m a serious member of the trial team. I work strategy, witness prep, exhibit stuff, everything. The v20 we are going against? Haven’t seen a single associate in over 2 years on any meet and confer, any turn of joint stuff. I’m sure they are in the background doing doc review and pulling exhibits for witness prep, but they aren’t out front in any capacity. That is the biggest difference - at a top end plaintiffs boutique, there is no hiding. You will have to sink or swim immediately, or you won’t make it. I don’t have other associates to fall back on in most cases, I’m usually the only associate staffed on a case, even the 500+ million dollar cases.

2 - people. The people at these top end plaintiffs firms are passionate about what they do. There is a level of engagement and passion about the work you don’t find in biglaw, and it leads to a much more collegial environment. I hated the assholes I worked for in biglaw. The partners I work for now? They are my role models, my mentors, and genuinely good people. Make no mistake - I bill a ton of hours. But I rather bill those hours for them than anyone on the defense side.

3 - billables. Yes, plaintiffs lawyers at these sorts of places bill hours. It’s no different than biglaw, other than we don’t have clients paying us monthly (usually, there are exceptions) but waiting for court fees. We have to submit say 7 years worth of time at once, so you best believe you get your entry right the first time or your aren’t gonna get that money back in fees when the special master or judge strikes that entry you couldn’t remember more of 7 years ago.

4 - career progression. As noted above, it’s usually very leanly staffed. We have first years drafting full complaints, writing full motions, managing discovery, completing investigations, etc. essentially alone. Quite frequently you will be the only associate staffed on a case, even though you know there are 10-15 associates at 4 different biglaw firms on the other side. So you get monumental more experience. 2-3rd years are arguing in court in real, non pro bono cases. At the same time, you are starting to take depositions. My firm expects a 3-4th year to have taken multiple depositions and possibly defended some too.

5 - partnership prospects. Partnership prospects are much more realistic because associate classes are so much smaller. Plus, by the time you are up, you have already proven you can handle all of a case at every stage. Partnership for my firm is 7 years, some it’s shorter. So it’s a more accelerated track than biglaw.

6 - pay. My firm pays about 15-20% less to a first year than biglaw, with a specific lockstep increase per year in all offices (major markets including nyc, dc, and San Fran). The real compensation is bonus. Bonuses can be a big chunk, if not a multiple, of base salary, depending on what comes in that year. I’ve had years where I made more than my biglaw counterparts with top of the market bonus. I have also had years with a lean bonus, which sucks.

7 - hiring. Hiring is really tough, because the associate ranks are smaller. The associates at my firm generally were top 25% at their t13, clerked, and otherwise brilliant and committed to the work we do. We weed people out who aren’t genuinely interested in the work and committed to the plaintiffs side. That’s the biggest key to being hired at these sorts of firms generally - you need to be committed to that firm’s mission and plaintiffs work. If you aren’t, you aren’t going to last.

Lastly, I would say this is the dream legal job for litigators. I make great money, getting experiences I know my buddies aren’t getting in biglaw, and setting myself up to either go on my own down the road, make partner, or go into the government with real litigation skills. I would also say it’s not impossible to go back to biglaw, I’ve seen it happen, but it’s rare. Much more likely to go into government or academia on my experience. But yeah, high end plaintiffs work is the bomb.

I would also add that certain firms have different expertises. Hausfeld is the top antitrust plaintiffs boutique to my mind, Cohen is great in a number of practice groups like antitrust, Leiff is legit in some areas too, Hagens Berman is legit in antitrust, Motley Rice is big in mass torts stuff, Sanford Heisler is the top employment firm, etc (they all do other things too, just rattling off my brain). It’s a small world of these types of firms. Susman is obviously great, but they do a lot more defense side work so I wouldn’t include them here. Same with Quinn. Boies Schiller is also in this boat, but I would stay far away given the issues they are having with the mass exodus.

Not to rain on your parade, or maybe IP is just different than the work you do, but at least my firm also gets 3rd or 4th years that experience. Also, 7-8 years partnership track is not that uncommon (unless you mean equity). Maybe defense side firms still staff with an army in other areas, but I’ve noticed people staffing more leanly on both sides of the v. And I know for my firm, we do both and it doesn’t impact staffing.

It sounds like the only real difference is what contingency does to your compensation model (boom/bust, rather than a more steady flow).

[deleting accidental anon]

[PlanetExpress]

If anyone has info on the salary scales for, say, Hausfeld or a peer in antitrust class actions work, please DM me. Cannot seem to find this info anywhere. Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

If anyone has info on the salary scales for, say, Hausfeld or a peer in antitrust class actions work, please DM me. Cannot seem to find this info anywhere. Thank you!

Did anyone ever message you? Would love to know as well.

[Anonymous User]

Several years ago I went against BLBG (this guy: https://www.blbglaw.com/people/mark-lebovitch) and I was really impressed by their work. Not sure if BLBG is "prestigious" or if it does what you're looking for.

[Anonymous User]

I know two mid-levels at Sanford Heisler Sharp who appear very happy there and I’m fairly certain their comp is somewhere in the $150K range with bonuses on top of that. From what I understand, associates argue in court, take depositions, etc.