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Do you have any friends from law school that are doing PI now? I would talk with them about their satisfaction with the level of human interaction. It may quickly become 5-10 phone calls from the same person that will then claim they never spoke to you. If you are up to that, then it may not be a bad transition.
I agree with Associate 1 100%. Only thing I would add is that, while it's technically true many Plaintiff's lawyers in PI see money in their clients, at the end of the day, that's the only practical justice we can get for our clients.
PI attorney here. I think the work is mostly rewarding. You’re often speaking to people during their lowest times, and the money they receive is sometimes necessary for them to survive. You’ll have to get used to be branded a money-hungry ambulance chaser, but even small cases have big impacts on those person’s lives.
The job itself can be draining. If you’re used to speaking with sophisticated clients this will likely be a difficult adjustment. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve told a client we don’t just get more money because we demanded it. You will have to do a lot of hand holding people that: don’t speak English; don’t have much formal education; and think think know better than you. The vast majority of clients are NOT like this, but when you have three that call daily (or more) and claim you haven’t spoken to them in YEARS it can be a lot.
Also do your research on PI firms around you. Cultural fit is very important. Many top local trial attorneys have big personalities. Some are narcissists, some are just quirky (cowboy hats), others are Jesus-y. My first firm was a terrible fit. But I get along with all the partners at the firm I’ve been at for 4 years.
Be prepared to start at the bottom. While I’m sure there may be some crossover in skills, PI work does have some quirks. You can get in a lot of trouble if you go straight into doing lit without learning how to settle cases. I know a bunch of PI attorneys that learned this the hard way and missed liens, subro, etc. The starting salary in PI is also awful, but if you prove yourself, you move it up quickly (I started at $55k and moved to over $100 base plus commission within three years).
I really enjoy PI. I’ve always told myself that if I don’t do PI I would go in-house.
I second all of the above.
Maybe talk to some PI attorneys before making the move. I do PI (pretty new, only a 3rd year) but it's not exactly a perfect job either.
Good PI attorneys can make lots of money, but these few work very hard and very long hours.
The fear that I have is I’m already working very hard and very long hours and I’m doing it all for a couple of guys who hold MBA’s. I function as a human turnstile for their deals and documents, and I don’t see a path to any meaningful autonomy or control over my own life on this corporate m&a path. That’s the primary reason why I’m considering making the big switch.
I’m a litigation associate at a big firm planning to make the same move over the next couple months. Would love to compare notes at some point.
What I’ve learned after doing commercial lit for almost 15 years and then switching to PI is that it’s (a) possible (b) rewarding, but (c) requires 110% commitment. But what I’ve also learned is that there are many aspects of PI. There are big “white shoe” PI firms. There are big volume PI firms. There are smaller shops with big scale litigation. There are smaller shops with individual plaintiff litigation. There are trial shops. There are firms with niche clientele or practice areas. It’s not all cut from the same cloth, it doesn’t all pay the same, and it provides varying levels of enjoyment. I knew what I wanted to do going in and my objective was fairly narrow and luckily I was able to climb pretty far pretty fast. But I brought something very specific to the practice. I’ve since broadened my practice and in the process have learned a lot more about it and I now feel like I have a much better grasp of the entire practice. In a way I kind of did it backwards. One point worth making tho: PI is a lot more relational than you think. Clients matter but being well known in the community matters too and it’s never too early to start. It’s a small world and everyone kinda knows everyone and if you want to move ahead you kind of need to.