General Liability Defense Associate

Distinct | North America; California; Remote; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Distinct | North America is seeking a General Liability Defense Associate for a fully remote role based in California. The position offers a salary range of $150,000 to $190,000 per year and requires strong California civil defense experience along with active California Bar licensure.

Responsibilities include deposing witnesses, pursuing summary judgment, drafting meet and confer letters, selecting a premises safety expert, and preparing mediation briefs in coordination with the adjuster.

Qualifications

• Two years or more of California civil defense experience.
• At least one deposition taken on your own.
• Active California Bar license.
• Ability to depose plaintiffs and witnesses.

Responsibilities

• Depose the plaintiff, the assistant manager and other witnesses.
• Move for summary judgment on notice or on obvious issues.
• Write meet and confer letters to keep discovery on track.
• Find a premises safety expert and pin down their opinion early.
• Draft mediation briefs and discuss with the adjuster the night before.

Skills

Deposition experience

California civil defense

Legal writing

Litigation strategy

Education

California Bar License

Job description

General Liability Defense Associate | Fully Remote, California | $150,000 to $190,000

This is a general liability defense job, fully remote from anywhere in California, and it pays $150,000 to $190,000.

Most of it's premises. A customer slips on grapes in the produce aisle, or catches a toe on a lifted sidewalk slab, or an automatic door closes a second early, and a year or so later you've got an assistant manager who tells it the same way every time, a floor inspection sheet with a gap in it right where it matters, and an expert on the other side who's already put a number on the whole thing.

The firm's a national defense firm and it's growing, so when a file turns nasty there are people to call. General liability sits alongside employment, product liability and workers comp, so if you want to branch out in a couple of years it's all there. They run their own training and you're in it from the week you join.

Most weeks you'd be:

• Deposing the plaintiff, the assistant manager and whoever was meant to be walking the aisles
• Moving for summary judgment on notice, or on open and obvious
• Writing meet and confer letters, so the discovery fights stay off the judge's calendar
• Finding a premises safety expert and pinning their opinion down early
• Drafting mediation briefs, then a long phone call with the adjuster the night before

They'd like two years or more of California civil defense and at least one deposition you've taken on your own, plus the California Bar.