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I actually have done both and it’s so different that it’s really too hard to compare as I said above.
On defense, there is an absurd amount of busy work/paperwork and reporting. And if you actually do it right, the billing/collections is super tedious and annoying. I have seen many plaintiff lawyers try it and they just throw their hands up and have to quit because it drives them absolutely insane. They can’t stand doing busy work that doesn’t advance the file at all and entering time in 6 minute intervals. Although everything is reactive on defense and sometimes you can just kick the can down the road or get an easy case where you just have a small player in the case (a ride along sit through defendant), you can’t control the tempo of the case like the other side can. When many big cases are simultaneously on fire and you can’t do anything about it, it’s brutal.
On the plaintiff side you spend an inordinate amount of time reviewing potential cases that end up going nowhere and never getting off the ground, and it feels like you are just wasting your time. You also have to do the work for years to get paid out and there’s a chance you wont. You sometimes have to handle cases that just aren’t very good because someone else at the firm already brought it in and didn’t consider the significant weaknesses. That can also feel like you’re wasting your time. The clients can be insufferably annoying and unreasonable/unrealistic and even flat out insane and delusional. It causes a lot of stress dealing with some individual clients, and only the very best plaintiff firms get to cherry pick the best cases and clients. For every home run type cases there are like 500 grounders to the pitcher or foul tips. There can be more volume than you think. You also have no ride along cases. It’s on you and you alone to move the file and take the deps and prove your case. Your work doesn’t really have to be great though since it’s pretty easy to get past MtD or Msj in a Pi case. Also you get to control the tempo of the case most of the time. You work when you want to work. You press the files when you feel like pressing them and you can get a major head start on the Defense by properly working up and pleading your case with help of experts before the defense counsel even knows there’s a case.
Pay on defense is very consistent and easily predictable, and in time your salary can be way higher than what plaintiffs lawyers get. That’s what I like about it. I can’t bring myself to switch because my salary is pretty much at least double than what plaintiff firms want to give. But unless you have a nice book, you have a ceiling ans the comp tops out. There’s no ceiling in plaintiffs work and the bonus potential can be huge. Importantly also no billables. It’s amazing to just work in a case and not worry about justifying spending a lot of time on something. But sometimes you get a shit base salary and can work for big egos who screw you out of money. Like every big plaintiff firm I know ends up in some litigation against a former partner or employee and those cases are like ugly divorces.
It’s all a trade off. They are just so different. You also need a totally different mindset as a plaintiff lawyer. A lot of defense lawyers simply don’t have it and never will.
I’m thankful to work for a company that doesn’t require billing (but I hope if I ever do switch companies and have to bill, I’ll pick up on that quickly!!!).
Defense. Billable hours and reporting bs. Plus in NYC, very plaintiff-friendly laws and venues
We suffer from plaintiff friendly outcomes outside of DC here too. Do hurt people deserve money? Yes. Do they deserve 100x their meds? It depends.
Chief
There is so much more involved as a plaintiff attorney that isn’t even legal work. You need to be a people person and be able to hustle to be successful. Your client isn’t a billion dollar entity anymore and you’re dealing with real people. It adds a ton of stress
I'm a first year. Gonna wait and see what I get offered for year 2. If it's not commensurate to my work ethic, and production I'm out.
Defense for sure. Billable hours suck. Insurance carriers suck even more.
I’ve done both and dealing with plaintiffs and hustling cases toward settlement is far more difficult than I thought before I had plaintiffs experience.
Yea I feel like they are so different it’s hard to compare
In ohio plaintiff's side is definitely the harder side and even the defense lawyers admit it.