Are you an obsessive-compulsive new lawyer?

Are you passionate about helping victims of negligence and greed?

Are you frustrated trying to get your foot in the door of a job that matters?

Maybe you should come to work with us.

We are Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo (formerly known as the Anastopoulo Law Firm - you know, the "Don't Scream, Call Akim" folks!).

We believe in justice for all – not just for the wealthy and powerful.

We believe that justice delayed is justice denied.

We believe that the best way to seek justice without delay is to manage all aspects of our firm using well-organized and uniform systems.

We believe in rewarding smart successful work.

Your Role

As an Associate Attorney, you will spend the majority of your time on the phone with clients and insurance adjusters negotiating settlements of personal injury claims. If you are reluctant to talk on the phone, then this is not the job for you.

Most of the remainder of your time will be spent participating in our own internal continuing legal education programs which will teach you the legal and practical nuances of personal injury work.

You don't need legal experience to start with us. Note: if you already have three to five years of personal injury trial experience then please see our advertisements for Tier 3 attorney openings.

You do need:

a law license (South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, or Tennessee);

an OCD personality;

a solid work ethic; and

a burning desire for unlimited growth.

If this sounds like you, then we would like to talk with you about an entry level position in our firm. Here’s how that works: You will begin as a “Tier 1 Associate Attorney.” In this role you will negotiate settlements of cases of all types (but mostly motor vehicle wrecks) where the total medical bills are toward the lower end of the spectrum. In addition, you will learn, among other things, how to negotiate, how to build case value, how to set expectations, and how to maintain client control. The pay for a Tier 1 Associate Attorney is $65,000 per year plus benefits and discretionary bonuses.

You will start with a three-month tryout period, during which you will receive full pay, but no benefits or bonuses. During this time, we will train you and we will give you feedback frequently so that you will know every step of the way if you are on track. Unfortunately, not everybody is cut out for this kind of work, and that’s fine. If, at the end of the three-month tryout period, you are still not progressing as you need to be, then you will be able to move on with a month of severance pay and no harm done to your resume. On the other hand, if you are progressing as expected at the end of month three, then benefits and eligibility for bonuses begin.

Your Future

All attorneys are reviewed every six months. At your second six-month review you will be eligible to move up to Tier 2 Senior Associate Attorney. There, you will continue to negotiate settlements, the only differences being (a) you will be working on bigger cases, and (b) you will earn bonuses by hitting specific and very achievable targets. A successful Tier 2 Senior Associate Attorney will earn over $100,000 per year plus benefits. While a Tier 2 Senior Associate you will study the skills necessary to become a courtroom lawyer. After a year as a Tier 2 Senior Associate Attorney, you will be eligible for promotion to Tier 3 Trial Counsel.

As Tier 3 Trial Counsel, you will work with even larger cases, many of which you will file and prepare for trial – and you will try those cases with the assistance and coaching of senior members of the Firm. In addition, you will often be asked by senior members of the firm to sit as second chair on their trials, which is an invaluable experience in learning the almost lost art of trying cases before a jury. Tier 3 Trial Counsel are paid a percentage of what they recover and disburse to clients, and a successful Tier 3 Trial Counsel will earn in the middle 100’s.

While you should expect to spend only a year as Tier 1 and only another year as Tier 2, how long you spend as Tier 3 will depend. And it will depend primarily on you. If you establish as track record of successfully resolving cases – either by trying them to a verdict, or by settling pretrial for an excellent value – then you will be well on your way. What will push you across the finish line will be the opinion of senior members of the firm. If they view you as a competent and trustworthy self-starter who can get things done without needing a lot of direction, then you are likely to be promoted to Tier 4 Senior Trial Counsel after only a year. Candidly, this is not most folks. Instead, it’s only about the top 20% who spend only a year in Tier 3. The middle 50% spend two years in Tier 3 before promotion, and the bottom 30% go do something else, since effective trial advocacy is obviously not their thing (some decide to return to Tier 2 and become really excellent settlers of cases – if you make a career in Tier 2, you can actually earn well over $250,000 a year at it. You just have to get really good).

As a Tier 4 Senior Trial Counsel you will direct and litigate cases where the medical bills are between $25,000 and $75,000. In addition, you will sit second chair in the very largest cases within the firm – cases where the jury verdicts are often in the tens of millions of dollars. By doing so, you will have the opportunity to learn real-world trial advocacy from the very best in the business. Tier 4 attorneys are paid a percentage of what they recover and disburse to clients. A successful Tier 4 Senior Trial Counsel will earn in excess of $200,000 per year. After a year as Tier 4 Senior Trial Counsel, you will be eligible for promotion to Tier 5 Senior Trial Counsel and Practice Group Leader.

Tier 5 Senior Trial Counsel and Practice Group Leaders specialize in one or two particular areas of tort litigation, e.g. trucking litigation, medical malpractice, construction defect, premises liability, personal torts, Section 1983 actions, etc. Cases in Tier 5 are the largest single-injury cases the Firm handles. The very smallest of these have $75,000 in medical bills, and that ranges on up into the multiple millions of dollars of medical bills as well as damages for death, loss of limb, etc. These are cases that routinely settle for millions of dollars, and result in jury verdicts in the tens of millions (sometimes many tens of millions). There is no legal or practical upper limit to what you can earn as a Tier 5 attorney. In addition, as a Tier 5 Trial Counsel and Practice Group Leader you are on track to become a full equity partner in the Firm.

Next Steps

Now, back down to earth. The way to get started is to join the Firm as a Tier 1 Associate Attorney and learn this craft. If you think you have what it takes, we would love to hear from you – click on the link to apply.