Litigation Attorney, Bodily Injury Defense

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

Job summary

Distinct Recruitment in Tampa is seeking a litigation attorney to support bodily injury and personal injury defense for an insurance defense firm. You’ll run your files, take depositions, and advocate at mediations and hearings to advance matters toward resolution.

Hybrid work in Tampa is available. The salary range shown reflects varying levels of experience, with broader exposure on larger files, and growing client relationships as you progress to higher responsibilities.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of litigation experience, ideally in insurance defense.
• Comfort with medical records and ability to challenge a treatment narrative.

Responsibilities

• Defending bodily injury and personal injury claims from first report to resolution.
• Taking and defending depositions of plaintiffs, treating physicians and experts.
• Arguing hearings, leading mediations and doing trial work as opportunities arise.
• Regular contact with adjusters and carrier clients to align on strategy.

Skills

Litigation experience

Insurance defense

Deposition experience

Job description

Litigation Attorney, Bodily Injury Defense | Tampa, FL | $125,000 to $200,000 | Bodily Injury / Personal Injury

Mediation is where most bodily injury cases end. It's also where a lot of capable attorneys spend the day in the corner of the room, watching someone else make the argument they prepared.

If that sounds familiar, I have a role in Tampa you should see.

I'm Ryan Jaiswal at Distinct Recruitment, hiring a bodily injury defense attorney for an insurance defense firm with a busy Tampa practice. The pitch is simple: you'll run your files, and you'll be the one talking when it matters.

The day to day

• Defending bodily injury and personal injury claims from the first report through resolution
• Taking and defending depositions of plaintiffs, treating physicians and experts
• Arguing your own hearings and leading mediations
• Trial work, with first chair opportunities as your experience grows
• Regular contact with adjusters and carrier clients, so your judgment gets heard directly

What the firm needs from you

• 2+ years of litigation experience, ideally in insurance defense
• Comfort with medical records and the confidence to challenge a treatment narrative

The practical bits

• Hybrid, based in Tampa

That salary range is deliberately wide. It's built so a mid level attorney and someone at counsel level both get paid what they're worth. The more experience you bring, the more the role gives back: larger exposure files, more trial work, supervising other lawyers, and client relationships that become your own. If you're senior and wondering whether partnership is realistic, it's a conversation the firm is happy to have early.

Why people make this kind of move

Most bodily injury lawyers I speak to aren't unhappy with the work. They're unhappy with how little of it they actually get to own. Moving to a team where exposure is real (depositions, hearings, mediations, trial and client calls) changes how fast you develop and how you feel on a Sunday night.

It also changes your market value. An attorney who has run mediations and tried cases has a very different resume from one who has drafted the memo behind them.