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Plaintiff or Defense?
I can only speak as Defense and say that how you handle cases for Adjusters is what brings in business. Get to know the supervisors. Seek out other carriers and take the lead on getting on their panels.
If you’re on the Plaintiff side handle your cases in a way that sets you apart from others. Be reasonable. I can’t tell you how many adjusters have retained attorneys for their personal PI matters based on how they dealt with them professionally.
Start taking ownership of your cases as soon as you can. If you have a partner that’s a micro-manager, you probably shouldn’t file something before clearing it with them, but let them know you’re going to send a demand letter to the adjuster by a certain date. They likely won’t edit by then, so you send it off as your own work product. Then you’ll be surprised how much partners will trust you after settling just a few cases at policy limits. They’ll start giving you more cases that you can handle on your own, including ones sent in from referring attorneys. Make sure the referring attorneys know who you are, and that you’ve worked the case up. That’s how you get your name out there.
I’m trying to do this on the Plaintiff’s side. I’m a first year associate. Wishful thinking is definitely the worst thing I did during my first year. I can’t rely on my family and friends referring cases out of the blue. I’m thinking of using Instagram and YouTube to promote my work. Also, maybe pay for a few happy hours to reconnect with old friends. Not sure what else I can do.
As a Plaintiff’s attorney, you should always be promoting yourself to people you know and former clients. Bringing in business gives you power; whether the power to become a partner or start your own firm. If you want to have your own web page or other aggressive marketing, I would clear it with the managing partner. If you work at a firm that advertises heavily, they may not value this as much because they rely more on advertising, not contacts, to get cases.
Doing plaintiffs work I always found timelines helpful whereas others shied away from them. Your basic approach is client contact and trust, and by being up front and honest with them, that’s the only way it happens. I had a 6 month-1year plan to file the lawsuit unless surgery or injury threshold for MVA cases, was met.
Having a game plan and being able to explain the law in common language was beneficial to separating myself from the crowd at the firm I worked at.
One piece of advice is to network at local bar events. If you can find an attorney who doesn’t do PI work (like someone who does bankruptcy or criminal) and whom you can make into a referral source, it would certainly be beneficial.