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In general, yes, particularly when the facts are spicy, as they often are. I like drama and there’s usually quite a bit of drama in discrimination litigation. Wage and hour claims, on the other hand, are a real drag, particularly if you don’t like spreadsheets and math.
Agree with this 100%.
i imagine it will depend on what side of the “v” you are on and where your politics lean. i have practiced on both sides and lean politically more moderate but left of center (although i’m not a true believer), so i have liked both sides because it really does require detective work and putting together an interesting and engaging story to tell for both sides. i hated the billable hour and moved to the ee side. As a plaintiff attorney, i like it more because i sleep better at night knowing i get to represent real people and change their lives. Out of all litigation, depositions and trials are pretty interesting, especially if you like gossip. If you don’t like dealing with personalities and people, probably not for you. i’ve done some business litigation and arguing over the construction of a contract is as interesting as watching paint dry in my opinion, but i could see others being fascinated by the problem solving that requires. It is also a recession proof industry where there will always be work until AI replaces everyone’s jobs and the robots do everything.
I was an L&E litigator (employer side, single-plaintiff) and transitioned to advice and counsel due to the increasing hostility and lack of professionalism. There were no honest mistakes, only “misrepresentations.” There was a lot of name-calling and personal attacks. Depositions were strings of interruptions and meritless objections to obstruct and coach witnesses. There were many unsupported legal and evidentiary citations, hoping the judges were too busy to catch them. Maybe they didn’t work, but they went unpunished. As a lawyer, I want to be challenged by figuring out how to respond to good lawyering and artful strategy, not by withstanding abusive tactics. I assume part if it was because I was in a large city where the lawyers and judges don’t encounter each other enough for anyone to develop a reputation. The other part is that many employment cases are meritless but they’re still attractive to the plaintiff’s bar because of one-way fee shifting. That’s not to say there isn’t discrimination, harassment, or retaliation-that will unfortunately always exist in our society. However, because we don‘t have the job protections in the US that most other countries have, general unfairness or bad behavior needs to be squeezed into a discrimination or harassment mold to be litigated and our system is not set up to toss them out early. What I’m doing now is much more rewarding.
My coworkers who do employer side seem to enjoy it but personally I've never seen a more hostile bar than in labor. Like obviously you're not going to love every OC but I feel like in most practice areas you can still get a drink at a bar function and be social, feels like labor and employer lawyers despise each other.
C1, curious if through discovery, those plaintiffs produce documentation to support their claims. I try to make it a point to never add statements in my complaints that I cannot back up. As I’m drafting, I ask the clients to give me every document they can to substantiate their allegation. Specificity matters so that during discovery, I can try and produce the proof.
I do employers side and I generally enjoy it, but I have yet to run into a case that I find indefensible or where my client was clearly in the wrong, so I also generally believe in my arguments and I also generally have cordial relationships with opposing counsel. I’m not the type of person who would go to drinks with opposing counsel in the first place, so that doesn’t happen with me in labor/employment, but I also wouldn’t do that in my tort cases either 🤷♀️ I find the subject matter to muuuuuuch more engaging than any of the other litigation I do and because we are both in house for our client and do their litigation, I also have a much better handle on factual background and stay ahead of the curve on discovery than if I were coming in from the outside.