Highest-paying plaintiff firms for associates? Forum

[basketofbread]

What about hours? I’m a 4th year in a Delaware corporate / securities focused lit group annualizing 2700 hours. I would make the jump to one of our plaintiff counterparts if I could expect to work about 1000 fewer hours.

Are you based in NYC?

Yep.

[Anonymous User]

What about hours? I’m a 4th year in a Delaware corporate / securities focused lit group annualizing 2700 hours. I would make the jump to one of our plaintiff counterparts if I could expect to work about 1000 fewer hours.

Are you based in NYC?

Yep.

I had a friend who worked at a plaintiff side firm on the east coast. Mid-levels with your experience are valuable to those shops who do securities. I seriously doubt you'll be able to swing 1700 hours anywhere. But possibly sub/around 2000.

[pointplace]

I'll add Selendy, Kaplan, and McKool to this list for NYC (all three pay market or above and have considerable plaintiff litigation opportunities, although they all do both P and D-side lit)

[Anonymous User]

I'll add Selendy, Kaplan, and McKool to this list for NYC (all three pay market or above and have considerable plaintiff litigation opportunities, although they all do both P and D-side lit)

Would probably add MoloLamken and Hueston Hennigan too.

[Anonymous User]

MoloLamken definitely belongs on this list, and it pays above market.

But one thing that gets lost in these conversations is that there are (at least) two types of plaintiffs' firms. First, there are firms like Susman, MoloLamken, and Selendy that do both plaintiff and defense side work, and generally do complex commercial litigation, sometimes on an hourly basis and sometimes on a contingency basis.

Then there are the pure plaintiffs' class-action firms, like Seeger Weiss, Lief Cabraser, and Rosen that basically only do plaintiffs'-side class action work. These places typically pay below market to associates, typically attract less prestigious lawyers, but the partners can get paid quite well.

These are two very different kinds of firms. I think folks on this forum are talking mainly about the first category of firms, and in NYC, the top shops are Susman, MoloLamken, Selendy, and possibly also Kaplan Hecker. All of those firms do complex commercial work on the plaintiff and defense side, and they all pay above market. Hueston Hennigan does not typically do plaintiff-side work.

[Anonymous User]

MoloLamken definitely belongs on this list, and it pays above market.

But one thing that gets lost in these conversations is that there are (at least) two types of plaintiffs' firms. First, there are firms like Susman, MoloLamken, and Selendy that do both plaintiff and defense side work, and generally do complex commercial litigation, sometimes on an hourly basis and sometimes on a contingency basis.

Then there are the pure plaintiffs' class-action firms, like Seeger Weiss, Lief Cabraser, and Rosen that basically only do plaintiffs'-side class action work. These places typically pay below market to associates, typically attract less prestigious lawyers, but the partners can get paid quite well.

These are two very different kinds of firms. I think folks on this forum are talking mainly about the first category of firms, and in NYC, the top shops are Susman, MoloLamken, Selendy, and possibly also Kaplan Hecker. All of those firms do complex commercial work on the plaintiff and defense side, and they all pay above market. Hueston Hennigan does not typically do plaintiff-side work.

I'm interested in the second category (class action shops). Any insights on those?