Litigation Associate

Distinct | North America; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 270,000 - 385,000; Full time

Job summary

A commercial litigation associate role in Dallas, TX with an AmLaw 100 firm. You will handle high-stakes disputes in state and federal court and arbitration, across energy, financial services, healthcare, real estate, private equity and tech.

Responsibilities include leading depositions, shaping case strategy from the first pleading, developing trial themes and drafting motions, while directly advising clients. Dallas team is expanding, offering growth opportunities.

Qualifications

• 3 to 5 years of complex commercial litigation with high stakes.
• Biglaw experience or equivalent high-stakes practice accepted.
• Strong academic record.

Responsibilities

• Lead depositions, take them, defend them, and decide which ones matter.
• Set case strategy alongside the partners, from the first pleading onward.
• Build trial strategy, including themes, witnesses, and exhibits, and the order they land in front of a judge or jury.
• Draft motions and collaborate with the experts who hold the case together.
• Deal directly with clients, so they know who’s driving their case day to day.
• Be part of a Dallas litigation team that’s growing with room to step up.

Skills

Complex commercial litigation

Trial experience

Relocation-friendly

Education

Strong academic record

Job description

Commercial Litigation Associate | Dallas, TX | $270,000 to $385,000

You've worked on high stakes commercial cases.

This is where you start shaping them.

I'm recruiting a commercial litigation associate for the Dallas office of an AmLaw 100 firm. Here's what you'd want to know.

What's the work?

• High stakes commercial disputes in state and federal court, and in arbitration.
• Contract and fraud claims, business torts, shareholder fights, trade secrets, and deals that went wrong after closing.
• Clients across energy, financial services, healthcare, real estate, private equity and tech. Texas companies and national ones.
• The partners leading these matters have real trial experience. You'll learn how a case gets built for a courtroom, not only for a settlement.

What will I actually do?

• Lead depositions. Take them, defend them, and decide which ones matter.
• Set case strategy alongside the partners, from the first pleading onward.
• Build trial strategy. Themes, witnesses, exhibits, the order it all lands in front of a judge or jury.
• Draft the motions that move a case, and work with the experts who hold it together.
• Deal directly with clients, so they know who's driving their case day to day.
• Do it inside a Dallas litigation team that's growing. More matters means more room to step up.

Who is it for?

• 3 to 5 years of complex commercial litigation where the stakes were genuinely high.
• Biglaw experience fits. So does hands on, high stakes work at a respected boutique or midsize firm. What matters is the work you've done, not the name on the letterhead.
• A strong academic record.

What does it pay?

• $270,000 to $385,000, on the Cravath scale.

Do I need to be in Dallas already?

• No. Relocation candidates are welcome, as long as Dallas is somewhere you genuinely want to build a career, not a stop on the way.