Associate Attorney

About the role

Growing regional firm has a need for a personal lawyer in Irvine. The ideal candidate is driven by substantive litigation work, strategic advocacy, and delivering exceptional results.

Responsibilities

• Draft complaints, demand letters, written discovery, and discovery responses on plaintiff-side personal injury, elder abuse, and employment law matters.
• Handle all aspects of law and motion drafting, opposing, and arguing motions in state and federal court.
• Take depositions of defendants, treating physicians, and retained experts.
• Prepare depositions of plaintiffs and prepare clients thoroughly for their testimony.
• Prepare lay witnesses, treating providers, and experts for deposition and trial.
• Work directly with retained experts (medical, biomechanical, economic, life care planning, accident reconstruction) to develop case theory and damages.
• Review and analyze medical records, imaging, and provider reports; identify mechanism of injury and causation issues.
• Develop case strategy in collaboration with the senior litigation attorney and execute on it independently.
• Attend hearings, case management conferences, mediations, and settlement conferences.
• Maintain clear, timely communication with clients, opposing counsel, experts, and the internal team.

Qualifications

• Active license in good standing with the State Bar of California.
• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school.
• 23 years of civil litigation experience (plaintiff-side preferred; relevant defense-side experience will be considered).
• Candidates with less experience will be considered only if they can demonstrate substantial independent case-handling, including depositions taken, contested motions argued, and meaningful expert work.
• Hands-on experience taking and defending depositions.
• Demonstrated law and motion experience in California state court (and federal court a plus).
• Comfort reading and working with medical records; familiarity with anatomy, mechanism of injury, and common treatment pathways in orthopedic, neurological, and soft-tissue cases.
• Strong legal writing and oral advocacy skills.
• Self-starter who manages a caseload independently while remaining responsive to direction from the lead attorney.
• Professional, organized, and able to juggle competing deadlines on a serious-injury caseload without dropping anything.

Nice to have

• Background in personal injury, medical malpractice, or general liability- particularly with serious-injury, catastrophic-injury, wrongful death, or traumatic brain injury cases.
• Trial experience preferred (first or second chair).
• Experience working with high-value cases and the expert-heavy work-up they require.
• Familiarity with California Code of Civil Procedure, local court rules, and e-filing in California state and federal courts.