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This is tough. Assuming you’re talking about plaintiffs side - Starting at a high volume firm that takes lower value cases would give you more experience overall with case management, deps, and settlement. This is mostly what this practice is about. However, I can be hard to move up from a firm like this because you will likely be seen as having bad habits and bad practices, to a higher end firm. Reputation means a lot in this field and so does networking so really be sure to keep that in mind no matter what. I started at a higher end firm where we only take catastrophic cases. The stakes are high which means I’ve had to prove myself for years before getting any dep, mediation, and trial experience. But the reputation I build at the firm I am at opens a lot of door for me.
It really depends where you see yourself in 10 years - solo practice? Partner at a small/mid size firm?
That makes sense. Sort of like how some on the defense side start with an insurance company to get experience and then move to a more reputable defense firm handling bigger cases once they have some experience.
Pro
Depends on the experience you want. Experience can be in theory development or practical experience.
The general firm may get you more involved immediately for both theory development and practical experience, while the specialized field will limit your immediate practical experience.
You’ll want to know what type of experience you want and what the leadership at each firm is like. Who’s your mentor, what team are you on, and expectations from the start. I speak only from my experience going out into general PI as a Plaintiff and being told to wing it right out of law school.
As of now everything I’ve learned has come from some stellar paralegals helping me out. Definitely an awesome resource.
Fastest way to get in court experience is take ok some criminal assignments.
Speaking from experience having worked both sides. If you want to handle trials and depositions yourself and get on the job training, go defense, at a firm that has a mix of small and big insurance cases. Sometime a carrier won't pay partner hours on a small case and you'll get to handle the whole file yourself. Plaintiffs firms, especially small ones, tend to have far fewer trials and horizontal representation, meaning the partner does all the hearings, depos and trials and the associates are stuck at the office answering discovery, because "the clients hired the name on the door," and because they're the ones financing the case. Insurance clients are happy to have associates handle things because it saves money.
That’s what I’ve been hearing from different attorneys I’ve been speaking to. However I’ve been working at this volume pi firm that still has an interest in trying cases. They are allowing some young associates to try some minimum policy limits cases, so that is promising. But I do think I may need to find a defense firm if this goes south.