Pay in Civil Litigation

[A2J_2023]

Hi there, 

Wondering if some practicing litigators can share insight on earning ranges for civil litigators 5 years out, and then 10 years out. 

I have heard plaintiff lawyers in civil lit tend to make much more based on the contingency model. 

I know that the real answer is that earnings vary from firm to firm and lawyer to lawyer, but looking for some general guidance. 

Also, assuming salaried and not in a partnership / 'eat what you kill' arrangement. 

Thanks, 

[LMP]

Civil litigation is a very broad area, you'll have to be a bit more specific. Especially because I feel that you may be misinterpreting just what exactly civil litigation is.

[Dnian]

6 hours ago, A2J_2023 said:

I have heard plaintiff lawyers in civil lit tend to make much more based on the contingency model. 

The contingency model is not used by the vast majority of civil litigators. Do you mean personal injury/insurance specifically?

In my experience, there are only certain subfields of civil litigation where most lawyers tend to divide cleanly into either plaintiff side or defence side - personal injury/insurance, class actions, and maybe professional negligence are some examples that come to mind.

For most other forms of litigation (commercial litigation, estate litigation, construction litigation, defamation law, securities litigation, IP, employment, etc), I think the majority of practitioners do both plaintiff and defence work within their area(s) of specialization.

In any case, each of these subfields have dramatically different pay scales. So, you need to be more specific.

[A2J_2023]

Thanks for the insight! Specifically looking for insight into insurance defence and plaintiff side employment practices. Both in Ontario market, say mid-size firms respectively. Appreciate any guidance