Litigation Associate, Medical Malpractice Defense

Distinct | North America; West Palm Beach (FL); Hybrid; USD 125,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Distinct Recruitment in Florida is seeking a Litigation Associate to defend physicians and healthcare providers in Florida medical negligence claims. The role is hybrid and based in West Palm Beach, with a salary band of $125,000 to $200,000 depending on experience.

You will run files end-to-end—presuit, discovery strategy, expert retention, dispositive motions and mediation—and have opportunities for first chair trial work as you build your practice.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of litigation experience, with medical malpractice defense strongly preferred
• Florida Bar license in good standing
• Comfortable with dense medical records, causation arguments and expert heavy cases
• Someone who wants to own a file rather than feed one

Responsibilities

• Defending physicians, nurses, hospitals and other healthcare providers in Florida medical negligence claims
• Running files yourself: presuit, discovery strategy, expert retention, dispositive motions and mediation
• Preparing and defending your own clients at deposition, and deposing the plaintiff's experts
• Hearings in your own name and trial work alongside senior partners, with first chair opportunities as you're ready for them
• Direct contact with carriers, risk managers and the providers you represent

Skills

Litigation experience

Medical malpractice defense

File ownership

Education

Florida Bar license

Job description

Litigation Associate, Medical Malpractice Defense | West Palm Beach, FL | $125,000 to $200,000 | Medical Malpractice Defense

Physicians are excellent witnesses until about the third hour of a deposition. Then they get tired, a little defensive and very human. The lawyer who prepared them properly is the one who gets them through it.

If you're the person doing that preparation now, but someone else always takes the deposition, argues the motion and gets the credit with the client, this is worth a few minutes of your time.

I'm Ryan Jaiswal at Distinct Recruitment, and I'm hiring a medical malpractice defense attorney for a Florida firm with a team in West Palm Beach. Hybrid working, real files and a salary band built for experienced people.

The work

• Defending physicians, nurses, hospitals and other healthcare providers in Florida medical negligence claims
• Running files yourself: presuit, discovery strategy, expert retention, dispositive motions and mediation
• Preparing and defending your own clients at deposition, and deposing the plaintiff's experts
• Hearings in your own name and trial work alongside senior partners, with first chair opportunities as you're ready for them
• Direct contact with carriers, risk managers and the providers you represent

Who it suits

• 2+ years of litigation experience, with medical malpractice defense strongly preferred
• Florida Bar license in good standing
• Comfortable with dense medical records, causation arguments and expert heavy cases
• Someone who wants to own a file rather than feed one

The more you bring, the more you get. A senior associate or counsel level attorney walks in with the bigger, more complex cases, more first chair trial work, supervision of newer colleagues and real client relationships of their own. That's also why the salary range is wide. It's deliberately broad so that an attorney with serious experience is paid what they're worth, not squeezed into a band designed for someone else.

The details

• Hybrid, based in West Palm Beach
• 1,950 billable hours a year, stated up front so there are no surprises
• $125,000 to $200,000 depending on experience
• Clear progression toward partnership for people who build their practice

Medical malpractice defense rewards patience and preparation more than almost any other seat in insurance defense. If you've put the work in on the medicine, it's reasonable to expect a role where that work is seen, and where the provider remembers your name rather than the partner's.