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Current 0L entering Penn next Fall. Have always found personal injury honestly kinda interesting but never saw it as a real option due to the low pay. Have heard Philly is known for having “elite” PI firms w good comp so wanted a little perspective. I know this forum is mostly biglaw but didn’t know if someone in the Philly lit market is still familiar with these opportunities.

Search for "Kline and Specter" on TLS and you should find some good info.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 22, 2022 9:49 am

Current 0L entering Penn next Fall. Have always found personal injury honestly kinda interesting but never saw it as a real option due to the low pay. Have heard Philly is known for having “elite” PI firms w good comp so wanted a little perspective. I know this forum is mostly biglaw but didn’t know if someone in the Philly lit market is still familiar with these opportunities.

Kline and Specter participates in OCI at Penn, but I don't think they take many people and I'm not sure if it even leads to a full time offer like most biglaw SA positions. If you are interested in plaintiff's work I recommend making an effort to network extensively. You will have tons of opportunities to do this without much effort at Penn, just take advantage of it. If you are interested in Kline and Specter specifically, a partner typically teaches a seminar at Penn that I've heard great things about so I'd recommend taking that class.

I've heard great things about the partner's class, but mixed things about working at K&S. It's likely a better option than the other personal injury shops, but know what you're getting yourself into.

I’m a plaintiffs employment lawyer in Philly and now have my own firm after doing biglaw for a number of years. I dabble into the PI space because of how crazy lucrative it is. Here are my thoughts that I’ve gathered over the years of pondering plaintiffs work.

There are some good firms: K&S, Ross Feller Casey, Saltz, Beasley, and a few others that are in the elite tier.

The only true partners for the most part are the partners with their names on the door. The rest are essentially service partners if and until they break out on their own.

Comp from what I’ve heard can be really good, but also I’ve heard that comp isn’t as great as you might think given the amount of sheer revenue these firms bring in. I think the basic model is that they pay people just enough not to leave but not so much that they can’t buy buildings in Philly.

The real name of the game from what I’ve seen is to start your own firm. If that’s not your end goal, I might suggest something else. PI is a cutthroat world. Every year there is a need article about how some service partner or associate took their most valuable cases and started their own thing. Then there is usually some follow up litigation or arguments about fees owed to the prior firm for those cases.

I think successful solo attorneys in Philly clear a lot more money than service partners at K&S.

I don’t have any specific data points but I interviewed at K&S as a fourth year and a fifth year said that K&S was competitive with big law. Didn’t say that it beat biglaw. And this was before the big como hikes we’ve seen.

I’ve also heard that K&S is a grind.

Lastly, it’s not easy to get in at these places. You generally are in court more and taking depositions. The work is certainly more fun. It takes some combination of grades/mock trial experience to get in with K&S. If Shanin still teaches at Penn you should obviously take his class.

At Penn. I know a couple of folks who've done summer 1L at K&S. Grades-wise, I know one did very well and my suspicion is that the other did too. Not an easy shop to swing, but it's possible.