Aspiring Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Should Forgo ‘Default’ Career Steps

When I was in law school more than 25 years ago, the idea of graduating from a top law school and then working as a plaintiffs’ lawyer was largely unheard of. Representing plaintiffs was viewed as somehow… déclassé. So even though most of my classmates were liberal or progressive in their politics, they flocked to Big Law—despite the tension between their political sensibilities and large firms’ work in defending wealthy and powerful corporations.

Since then, law students’ views of plaintiffs’ lawyers and their work have shifted dramatically. Students at elite schools are increasingly interested in plaintiff-side work, as Roy Strom recently reported. The student-run National Plaintiffs’ Law Association, which educates law students about the opportunities available on the left side of the “v,” now has chapters at more than 60 law schools—including 13 out of the top 14.

What advice would leading plaintiffs’ lawyers give to law students and young lawyers who are interested in plaintiff-side litigation? Along the lines of my past columns offering advice to new law clerks and Big Law associates, here are some tips.

1. Resist the gravitational pull of Big Law while in law school.

One of the biggest challenges for would-be plaintiffs’ lawyers comes early: resisting the siren call of Big Law. Despite increased interest in plaintiffs’ work, it’s still fair to describe working at a large firm as the default post-graduate employment option for students at highly ranked schools.

In “Fighting Bullies: The Case for a Career in Plaintiffs’ Law,” plaintiffs’ attorney William “Bill” Reid of Reid Collins & Tsai writes that “law school doesn’t teach you how to build a legal career—it just sets you up to be recruited by Big Law.” In his view, many schools function simply as a “conveyor belt to Big Law.”

So if you’re an aspiring plaintiffs’ lawyer, “the first thing you need to do is to reject the received wisdom about what you’re supposed to do with your career,” said plaintiff-side appellate advocate Deepak Gupta, founding principal of Gupta Wessler. “There’s this hydraulic pressure that pushes people into the big-firm interview process, even if it has nothing to do with why they went to law school in the first place.”

Not pursuing Big Law might be easier said than done. With some firms recruiting first-semester 1Ls, it can be difficult for anxious, debt-saddled law students to decline that option while their classmates secure lucrative summer gigs that will likely turn into post-graduate jobs paying $225,000 a year.

But it can be done—and an increasing number of law students are doing it. According to Gupta, organizations such as the NPLA “can be helpful to students in resisting that pressure, by letting them know that some of their peers are resisting that pressure too.”

“I encourage students to see law as a site for creativity and entrepreneurialism,” Gupta told me. “Just as you can be entrepreneurial about the kind of litigation you bring, you can be creative about your career path. And I find that current law students, who are generally more skeptical of existing institutions, are really receptive to that message.”

2. Educate yourself about—and expose yourself to—the world of plaintiffs’ firms.

Plaintiffs’ firms don’t have the large recruiting staffs and budgets of Big Law, which large firms use to promote themselves by hosting cocktail receptions and dinners at top schools. Instead, it’s incumbent upon law students and young lawyers who are interested in plaintiff-side work to take initiative in educating themselves about this world.

You can start with something as simple as reaching out to a plaintiffs’ lawyer to express interest in and admiration for their work—as well as a desire to learn more.

“Don’t be shy about writing emails to lawyers to ask if they might be willing to chat,” said Alexandra Walsh, a shareholder at Anapol Weiss. “When a young person starting out in their career reaches out to me, I’m flattered. I never ignore those emails—and even if I’m pressed for time, perhaps because I’m in trial, I’ll find a colleague who can help.”

If what you learn piques your interest, then seek out opportunities to work for plaintiffs’ firms while still in law school.

“The best way to get into plaintiffs’ work is by gathering as many touchpoints as you can,” Reid urged. “Try to work for as many firms as you can—starting in your first year, even if it means working for free—just to see the actual practice of law.”

3. Seek out opportunities to be “on your feet.”

Standing up and arguing in court, especially to a jury, is a much bigger part of plaintiff-side practice compared with briefing-heavy Big Law litigation. If you’re interested in representing plaintiffs, get experience being on your feet, early and often.

Clinics are an excellent opportunity for law students. When I was in school, I participated in the landlord-tenant clinic and tried a case. It was only a one-day bench trial, but it gave me the chance to argue in open court and examine witnesses as a 2L.

“There are clinical programs available at almost every law school,” Reid said. “And candidly, I don’t think the subject matter is that important. What students need is on-their-feet experience.”

What if you’re already in Big Law, but hoping to jump to a plaintiffs’ firm? Speaking opportunities in cases for paying clients can be hard to come by—because as Walsh explained, “If things go south, in-house lawyers want the ability to say, ‘I had the senior partner argue it.’” But pro bono cases, which tend to be more leanly staffed, often provide excellent opportunities to get into a courtroom and on your feet.

4. If you want to go down the plaintiff-side path, feel free to bypass Big Law.

In the past, it was common for would-be plaintiffs’ lawyers to do a stint in Big Law first, gaining experience and paying off loans, before moving over to a plaintiffs’ firm. But as an increasing number of high-end plaintiffs’ firms focus on recruiting law students and early-career lawyers, to the point of establishing their own summer associate programs, working at a large firm first isn’t necessary—or maybe even desirable—for someone committed to plaintiffs’ work.

“A lot of people think it’s the safest route, but I’m skeptical of the idea that you should launch your career in Big Law and then go over to the plaintiffs’ side,” said Jay Edelson, founder and CEO of Edelson PC. “We’ll get an application from someone who went to Harvard and worked at Kirkland, and their résumé says they ‘second-chaired a deposition.’ What does that mean—you handed pieces of paper to somebody? We don’t think that’s good training to become a trial lawyer.”

Similarly, Reid scoffed at the notion of preparing for a career as a plaintiffs’ lawyer by working at a large firm first: “Going to Big Law to ‘learn the defense playbook’? The playbook is pretty obvious: delay, obfuscate, and settle.”

Reid acknowledged that while some Big Law partners excel at trying cases, “90% are not trial lawyers—they’re litigators. And I use that term negatively: Litigators push paper, and trial lawyers try cases.”

5. Your career isn’t all about the benjamins.

A growing number of plaintiffs’ firms, including Edelson and Reid Collins, pay starting salaries at or near Big Law levels. But working for a plaintiff-side firm is still generally less lucrative than working for a large, defense-oriented firm.

At the very least, the economic rewards from doing plaintiff-side work can be more unpredictable. Aspiring plaintiffs’ lawyers tend to be—and need to be—more open to risk than their Big Law counterparts.

“On the plaintiffs’ side, there are years when the firm might not make much money, or when it needs to invest,” Walsh said. “So we don’t guarantee bonuses at a certain level; they depend on how much money we have.”

There’s much more variation in compensation among plaintiff-side firms. So recruits shouldn’t be afraid to drill down into what a firm pays (perhaps after getting an offer first).

And Big Law isn’t the only point of comparison. Plaintiffs’ firms can be a financially appealing alternative to working in government or for a public-interest organization.

“Plaintiffs’ work might not pay as much in salary as Big Law, at least in the short term, but it does pay better than nonprofits,” Gupta said. “So it provides a kind of middle path, where lawyers can make a decent living while also finding their work meaningful.”

When it comes to career choices, law students and young lawyers need to consider factors other than dollars and cents. The plaintiffs’ lawyers I interviewed cited many non-monetary virtues to their work—including the ability to pick cases and clients they care about, the sheer fun of being in court so frequently, and the opportunity to advance the public interest and seek justice for wronged parties.

“No rational person should decide on their career path based just on starting salary,” said Reid. “If you prioritize experience over salary, you’ll end up with a far better, more enjoyable career.”

David Lat, a lawyer turned writer, publishes Original Jurisdiction. He founded Above the Law and Underneath Their Robes, and is author of the novel “Supreme Ambitions.”

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