Litigation Attorney

Sweet James•Newport Beach, CA

About The Position

Sweet James Accident Attorneys is a rapidly growing, AI-powered personal injury firm based in Orange County, California. The firm has built a nationally recognized brand and a proprietary AI and automation stack, and emphasizes excellence, compassion, results, exceptional client experience, collaboration, and professional growth. The Litigation Attorney serves as a Team Lead within a pod model that pairs a Team Lead and experienced Associates with dedicated support staff, backed by firm-wide calendar, records, and settlement functions. The Team Lead owns the outcomes of the team's portfolio, sets case strategy, prioritizes cases for development or resolution, and ensures assigned work is completed. The role personally handles advanced litigation work, including expert discovery, key depositions, high-value mediations, complaints, and trials. The Team Lead also manages and develops the team by running meetings and one-on-ones, setting demand cadence, coaching Associates, reviewing court filings, and reporting weekly to litigation leadership. Successful Team Leads may progress into the firm's litigation leadership.

Requirements

Juris Doctor degree.
Active license to practice law in the state where the role is located.
Five or more years of civil litigation experience, including at least three years of plaintiff-side personal injury experience.
Experience as lead counsel owning personal injury files from start to finish, including sole responsibility for setting settlement value.
Experience preparing cases for trial.
Expert discovery experience, including taking defense expert depositions and defending the team's own experts.
Mediation experience driving the process end to end.
Demonstrated ability to lead by example, delegate, follow through, and develop less experienced attorneys.
Strong negotiation skills and deep understanding of personal injury case valuation and how case value is created.

Nice To Haves

Trial experience as first or second chair.
Prior experience leading a team of attorneys and support staff.
Daily use of a case management platform such as Salesforce or Filevine.

Responsibilities

Review every new case with the team, set its strategy and goals, and identify the work to be done.
Prioritize the portfolio by building high-value cases and resolving cases that should settle.
Conduct introductory calls with new clients and own relationships on the team's largest cases.
Draft complaints and ensure the correct parties are named within the statute of limitations.
Own expert discovery, including designating and managing experts, taking defense expert depositions, and defending the team's experts.
Take and defend key depositions in each case, including high-value plaintiffs, defendants, and witnesses.
Prepare for and attend high-value mediations, negotiate, and settle cases within delegated authority.
Prepare and try cases, with Associates supporting.
Set and track the team's weekly demand cadence and prepare demands on the largest files.
Review everything filed with the court and ensure the team's compliance with the firm's AI use policy.
Lead team meetings and one-on-ones, coach Associates, resolve conflicts, and provide a weekly status report to litigation leadership.