The Stoddard Firm Is Hiring An Associate Attorney

We are hiring an attorney to help litigate product liability, sex trafficking, negligent security, premises liability, and commercial vehicle wreck lawsuits. Below we’ve provided a little information about our law firm and about what you would be doing if you worked here.

The Business of Our Firm

We represent seriously injured persons and families of those who have recently lost a loved one. Our firm is nine years old. We have four lawyers (all in their 30s).

The firm holds about forty (40) cases at a time with a minimum case value of approximately $500,000.00 and a maximum case value in the millions. We do not take low dollar cases; this is not a volume settlement firm. With an additional lawyer joining the ranks (you), we intend to increase the number of cases the firm holds to approximately fifty (50). That means five lawyers total; fifty (50) cases total.

We do not advertise on television, radio, billboard. Instead, the majority of our cases are referred to the firm by other lawyers who think we are best suited to maximize the recovery.

Our firm owns a two-story office building right across the street from Emory University that has six lawyer offices (and three paralegal offices). With only four attorneys in that space, we clearly intend to grow. That said, we believe that quick growth could negatively impact the quality of the legal work we do. And given the choice between (i) taking a few more cases and growing the firm, OR (ii) providing outstanding legal work to the clients we already have – we will always choose the latter. Said differently, the firm will grow, but slowly and in such a manner that the quality of the legal work will not suffer.

A Job Description for Our New Attorney

The new attorney at our firm will be the working on between five and ten cases with at least half of those cases being sex trafficking cases (we have quite a few of these at the moment). The firm’s owner, Matt Stoddard, will be overseeing and working on all of those cases with the new attorney. A firm paralegal will also be part of the litigation team.

From an offensive perspective, the job includes reviewing Defendants’ discovery responses, writing 6.4B / good faith letters, filing motions to compel, preparing voluminous non-party document requests, reviewing and organizing document dumps, preparing for and interviewing witnesses, preparing for and deposing witnesses, finding and subpoenaing witnesses, presenting mediation statements, participating in firm trial strategy meetings, preparing trial briefing (PTOs, MILs, jury charges), preparing trial notebooks, and aiding in the trial of cases.

From a defensive perspective, the job includes answering written discovery, preparing clients for depositions, defending depositions, responding to motions for summary judgments, responding to Daubert motions, responding to motions in limine, and participating in some hearings.

Depending on your experience, and until we feel comfortable with your ability to do an exceptional job with all of the above, you may be shadowing and assisting the firm’s other lawyers on some of these tasks in the beginning. That said, it is our goal to have all lawyer employees quickly participating in important and fundamental parts of the litigation process.

What We Want v. What We Will Consider v. What We Need.

We want to hire a Plaintiff’s personal injury attorney with at least three-years experience litigating in a similar environment as the one we have described above. We want someone who requires limited training and can hit the ground running. We want someone who feels both ownership over his or her cases, and a heavy responsibility for each case such that he or she will use their absolute best efforts to maximize the recovery. We want someone who can execute on a deadline. We also want someone who is capable of working on a team and communicating with the other team members about case progress – not someone who is acts as his / her own island.

We will consider a criminal defense attorney who has substantial personal injury experience, or an insurance defense attorney, or even a business litigation attorney. That said, applicants falling into these categories need to recognize that while they may have raw talent and some relevant litigation experience, there is going to be a significant transition and learning period. Said differently, we’ve hired folks with these background before, and they can turn out to be exceptional attorneys, but in our experience, there is a much larger adjustment period than the new employee initially suspects.

While we’d like to hire another attorney, we do not need to do so.  We are not overworked with more cases than we can handle and therefore in need of someone to share the load.  Instead, we think the best hiring strategy is seeking the perfect candidate when you could hire another attorney but do not need to do so.  That way, we can really find a perfect fit.

Salary and Benefits

If you meet the criteria for exactly what we want, you will have a good deal of negotiating power when we discuss salary. If you meet the criteria for what we will consider, you will not have as much negotiating power.

Regardless of what category you fall into, we offer an annual salary that is competitive and a bonus structure after the first calendar year of employment that is exceptional. Specifically, after the first calendar year of employment with our firm, our new hire will receive a percentage of the revenue generated on cases assigned to them. Until this bonus structure vests, the new hire can anticipate a traditional discretionary bonus.

In addition to salary, we currently offer a “gold” health insurance plan with Humana, and we pay the full premium for each employee.

The firm also has a 401K profit share plan, and while there are a long list of federal laws governing how these plans work, here are the highlights: the firm will match the first 3% of salary that the employee contributes to the plan, and the firm will match ½ of the next 2% of salary that the employee contributes to the plan (i.e., if you save for your retirement, we will give you extra money to help you save for that retirement, but if you don’t save for your retirement, we will not give you the extra money) The employee must work at the firm for a full calendar year before participating in the plan. Again, the rules of 401K are complex and governed by federal law, but this is a basic outline of how our plan works.

What You Need to Do to Apply

Send an email containing a cover letter, a resume, two writing samples (such as a motions), and two deposition transcripts (of your cross examination) to the firm’s owner – Matt Stoddard. If you do not know how to figure out Mr. Stoddard’s email address, then you probably are not a good fit for the job. 🙂 All applications will be kept in the strictest of confidence, and if we think you are a good fit, we will reach out about an interview.