Litigation Associate

About the Role

We've partnered with an established and growing litigation firm that is actively hiring an Associate Attorney to join its litigation practice in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. This is a strong opportunity for an attorney with solid litigation experience who enjoys substantive legal work, client interaction, and developing cases from initial evaluation through resolution. The firm handles a broad range of complex litigation, with a particular interest in attorneys who have experience representing government entities, municipalities, public agencies, school districts, or other institutional defendants.

Responsibilities

• Conduct legal research and analysis on substantive and procedural issues.
• Draft pleadings, motions, briefs, dispositive motions and legal memoranda.
• Prepare for and respond to written discovery.
• Represent and advise clients in New Jersey state and federal courts.
• Work directly with clients to evaluate claims and develop litigation strategy.
• Participate in depositions, negotiations, hearings and trial preparation.
• Assist with cases involving public entities, governmental liability, civil rights and other complex defence matters.
• Manage an active caseload while maintaining strong communication with clients, courts and opposing counsel.

Requirements

• J.D. from an accredited law school.
• Admission to practice law in New Jersey.
• At least 1 year of litigation experience; stronger consideration for candidates with meaningful defence-side experience.
• Strong legal research, writing and oral advocacy skills.
• Comfortable drafting substantive motions and legal correspondence.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple matters independently.
• Commercial judgement, attention to detail and a genuine interest in litigation.

Particularly Relevant Backgrounds

The firm's preference is for attorneys with government/public entity defence experience, including backgrounds involving:

• Municipal or governmental liability
• New Jersey Tort Claims Act matters
• Public entity defence
• Civil rights / 1983 litigation
• Police or law-enforcement liability
• School board / school district defence
• General liability and insurance defence involving institutional clients
• Employment litigation on the defence side
• Complex civil litigation involving governmental or public-sector clients

Public entity experience is preferred, but it should not be treated as an absolute requirement. A strong defence-side litigator with transferable experience in general liability, civil rights, employment, professional liability or similar areas could still be highly relevant.

Compensation & Benefits

• $110,000-$150,000 base salary, depending on experience
• Benefits effective upon hire
• 401(k)
• Health, dental and vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off and parental leave
• Professional development support
• Employee discounts
• Corporate fitness membership

Schedule & Work Arrangement

The position requires full-time in-person work from the firm's Cherry Hill office for the first six months. Following that initial period, a hybrid arrangement may be available, depending on performance and the firm's business needs.

Billable Requirement

2,150 billable hours annually. This is therefore not simply a "1+ year litigation attorney" search. The candidate needs to be comfortable with a genuine high-volume law-firm practice and a 2,150-hour expectation.

Why This Opportunity

This is particularly well suited to an attorney who wants to build depth in defence litigation and government/public entity work, with meaningful exposure to substantive motion practice, client strategy, court proceedings and complex cases. Candidates should submit a resume and, where available, relevant writing samples for confidential consideration.