Litigation Associate, Bodily Injury Defense

Litigation Associate, Bodily Injury Defense | Tampa, FL | $125,000 to $200,000 | Bodily Injury / Personal Injury Defense

"Remind me why I'm preparing a witness someone else will examine?" I hear a version of that from bodily injury defense lawyers more than almost anything else, and not only from mid level associates. Experienced attorneys say it too, usually about cases they know better than anyone else on the team.

If that sounds familiar, this role is built to fix it.

I'm Ryan Jaiswal at Distinct Recruitment, hiring a bodily injury defense associate on behalf of an insurance defense firm in Tampa. The firm wants attorneys who handle their cases all the way through, including in the courtroom.

Your files, start to finish

• Bodily injury defense across auto, premises and general negligence claims

• Case evaluation and strategy set by you, in conversation with the client and adjuster

• Depositions of plaintiffs, treating physicians, IME doctors and vocational and economic experts

• Hearings and dispositive motions argued by you

• Trials, with first chair responsibility for attorneys who have the experience

What matters to the firm

• Florida Bar membership

• 2+ years of bodily injury, personal injury or insurance defense litigation

• Good judgment about value and risk, and the confidence to give clients a straight answer

• Senior associates and counsel level candidates are as much a priority as mid level ones. With more experience come larger cases, more trials and responsibility for developing others

The logistics

• Hybrid, with the team based in Tampa

• 1,950 billable hours a year

• $125,000 to $200,000, purposely wide so it can pay a seasoned trial lawyer properly

What changes if you move

You stop being the person who knows the case best but sits in the second chair. Clients start calling you by name. Your reviews talk about trial results, not how many depositions you summarized. Over time, that's what builds a practice of your own and puts partnership within reach.

There's no pressure to decide anything quickly. To talk before applying, or to review your application together once you've sent it, book a slot in my calendar: https://calendly.com/ryanjaiswal