Litigation Associate, Personal Injury Defense

Litigation Associate, Personal Injury Defense | Tampa, FL | $120,000 to $200,000 | Bodily Injury / Personal Injury Defense

Hours are the first thing most attorneys ask me about and the last thing most job ads mention. So here they are: 1,950 billable hours a year. Salary from $120,000 to $200,000. Hybrid, based in Tampa. Now that's out of the way, we can talk about the part that actually decides whether a job is good.

I'm Ryan Jaiswal at Distinct Recruitment, hiring a personal injury defense attorney for a Tampa insurance defense firm. The question I'd ask of any firm is simple: what do you get for those 1,950 hours? Here, the answer is real litigation experience.

What fills the hours

• Defending personal injury claims arising from auto accidents, premises incidents and general negligence

• Owning the file: case evaluation, discovery strategy, depositions of plaintiffs, treating doctors and experts

• Motion hearings, mediations and trial work, with first chair trials as your experience grows

• Regular contact with adjusters and clients, where your recommendations carry weight

• Opportunities to mentor other attorneys if that's where you'd like to go

Who fits

• Florida Bar members

• 2+ years of litigation experience, preferably personal injury or insurance defense

• Equally aimed at associates with five, seven or ten years behind them. The salary range is broad by design so experienced lawyers are paid properly

• People who like a busy docket but want every hour on it to count toward something

Working pattern

• Hybrid, with your base in the Tampa office

• Part of the week from home, with the team around you when it matters

Reasons people make this move

• Time spent on substantive work instead of shuffling files

• Trial work that's shared, not hoarded

• A clear path toward a bigger practice, whether that's counsel, partnership or simply more control over your own cases

• Pay that reflects your experience, set within a range wide enough to do so

None of that is unusual on paper. It's unusual in practice, and that gap is what I'd like to talk to you about.

You can reach me directly on View phone number on click.appcast.io, and I'm Ryan Jaiswal on LinkedIn if you'd like to connect there. I work at Distinct Recruitment and I'm glad to answer questions before you apply. If you've already applied and want to talk through your application, or you're not quite ready and want a no pressure call, book a slot at and it'll go straight into my calendar.