Litigation Attorney (Cleveland)

Location: Cleveland / Solon, OH (In-Person)

Experience Level : Open (5 to 40+ years)

Practice Areas: High-Stakes Mass Torts, Civil Rights, Institutional Misconduct, Fertility Clinic Misconduct, and Class Actions

About Peiffer Wolf

Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise is a nationwide plaintiff’s litigation firm dedicated to fighting for individuals against powerful corporate interests. We cultivate an environment of fierce advocacy, uncompromising legal ethics, and deep mentorship. We don’t just push paper or manage cases; we shape national legal precedents, challenge corporate giants, and restore justice for our clients. We use our legal superpowers to make the world what it should be for the Davids, not the Goliaths.

Position Overview

We are looking to grow our Cleveland office with highly motivated, diligent, and meticulous colleagues. Whether you have five years of experience or decades of battle scars, we care less about the length of your résumé than your drive, grit, and work ethic.

We need people who will do whatever work needs to be done to win. Around here, there is no job too large or too small for anyone. You must be eager to roll up your sleeves and dive headfirst into complex dockets, with exacting attention to detail at every step. Our attorneys are expected to be legal chameleons, adapting to tackle tasks well above their current skill level, or jumping with equal zeal into tasks below it, as the needs of our clients demand. Ego stays at the door; the mission comes first.

This is an in-person position because collaboration is the lifeblood of elite lawyering. While research and writing can technically happen anywhere, the true art of advocacy cannot be replicated over a Zoom screen. The practice of law is an apprenticeship at its core; it is caught, not just taught. The most profound breakthroughs don’t happen on scheduled calendar invites—they happen during spontaneous debates in the hallway, war-room strategy sessions in the wee hours, and the real-time observation of seasoned trial lawyers dissecting a corporate defense strategy or responding to a crisis. Being physically present builds the trust and shared humor required to weather the intense stress of high-stakes litigation. For a firm dedicated to shaping national precedents, showing up together in the office every day turns a collection of individual attorneys into a synchronized, formidable unit that wins for its clients.

Fair warning: the learning curve on the inside jokes is steep.

What Your Days Actually Look Like

On any given day, you will be expected to execute whatever task is required to push a case across the finish line. There is lots of work to be done. We’re looking for a colleague who will embrace it all, including:

• Becoming a Scientist: Immersing yourself in data and statistics to confidently go toe-to-toe with PhDs in various fields. Someone has to take them to task. It might as well be you.
• Playing Corporate Detective: Combing through clinical trials, regulatory filings, or a corporate custodial file to master the complex timelines and lay hands on the smoking guns.
• Wordsmithing Magic: Drafting and perfecting legal briefs, substantive motions, and appellate arguments until they are absolute, airtight works of art.
• Gritty Execution: Doing the heavy lifting required to keep high-stakes national litigations running like a well-oiled machine.
• Jet-Setting for Justice: Hitting the road when duty calls. Because our practice is nationwide, travel requirements vary and can be significant depending on the demands of a case at any given time. For lawyers in search of a calm and predictable schedule, there is always government work.
• Active Mentorship: We consider mentorship to be a tangible, high-priority job task. You are expected to actively teach and learn from all your professional colleagues every day. Like a teaching hospital.

Qualifications

• Licensure: Juris doctorate from an accredited law school and an active member in good standing with a State bar and in a federal district court (multiple preferred).
• Mindset & Emotional Grit: A team-first mentality, strong interpersonal skills, and a resilient sense of humor are absolute requirements. When we are deep in the trenches, there is no room for fragility. You must possess the emotional fortitude to rise to the occasion and play exceptionally well with others, no matter what happens.
• Skills: Exceptional analytical skills and the intellectual curiosity required to master completely unfamiliar subjects on the fly. Fierce determination and focus are prerequisites to success in federal litigation. We are solving complex problems while our opponents strive to thwart us. No one bangs on a doctor’s arm during surgery. We have to do hard things while someone tries to foil our plans.
• Values: A strict commitment to legal ethics, civility, and professionalism. At a fundamental level, this comes down to being a decent human being. Are you the kind of person who is rude to the server? If so, this is not the place for you and we wish you well.
• Intangibles: Strong karaoke skills are highly favored but not required. While true, this paragraph is a test. Mention your favorite karaoke song (or your abject aversion to karaoke) in your cover letter to confirm you bothered to read the description of the job you’re applying for. Our work is too important to consider a candidate who didn’t. It tends to suggest that you won’t read, e.g. , the whole case before you cite it or the whole document before you use it as an exhibit. Thoroughness and attention to detail are more highly prized even than karaoke chops.

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary with a performance-based bonus structure that rewards your victories;
• The opportunity to work on some of the most significant, headline-making cases in the country, fighting for light, good, and truth;
• 401(k) Plan: Employer-sponsored 401(k) with a 4% employer match;
• Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance: 100% employer-paid for employees; with a qualifying HSA health plan, employer contributions of up to $1,200 per year;
• Telehealth Benefits: Employer-paid telehealth services, including mental health therapy;
• Other Insurance Benefits: Employer-paid group life insurance, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance;
• Additional Available Insurance Options: Employee-paid accident insurance and critical illness insurance;
• Paid Time Off (PTO) and paid holidays;
• Annual Bonus;
• Reproductive healthcare travel expense reimbursement.

To Apply

Are you ready for this? To apply, please submit the following required materials, combined into one PDF file:

1. Cover letter (tell us your story, not just your credentials)
2. Résumé
3. Three professional references
4. A writing sample you prepared

Fair warning: Applications that do not contain each of these components will be immediately cast into the void (and will not be considered).

Peiffer Wolf is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and respectful workplace.

COVID-19 Precautions: All employees working in the office must be vaccinated.