![\"personal](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/personal-injury-lawyer-career.jpg?resize=770%2C495&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Table of contents<\/h2>\n\n- Before Shopping for Your Lawyer Suit<\/a><\/li>\n
- Is Being a Personal Injury Lawyer a Good Fit for You?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Attributes of a Successful Personal Injury Lawyer<\/a>\n
\n- First is natural curiosity.<\/a><\/li>\n
- A close second is the ability to listen well.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Empathy is also important \u2026 sort of.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- The Best Way to Find Out If PI Practice Is Right For You<\/a>\n
\n- How to Find an Internship<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Make Sure PI Practice Suits You<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
When aspiring lawyers ask me for advice on the best path to becoming a personal injury lawyer, my answer is always some variation of, \u201cDo what I say, not what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took what was, back in the day, the standard path to becoming a lawyer. Four years of undergrad straight out of high school, followed immediately by three years of law school. My first job in a law office wasn\u2019t until the second semester of my first year of law school.<\/p>\n
As I wind down my career and look back, I\u2019m not sure that was the best path. Law school is too big an investment of time and money to jump in without some practical experience in the type of law you want to practice. These days, more college graduates are spending a couple of years working (or traveling) before starting law school, and that\u2019s what I recommend.<\/p>\n
Before Shopping for Your Lawyer Suit<\/h2>\n
I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer. When I was 12 years old (in 1972), I announced that goal to my parents. Maybe it was the Perry Mason reruns, but to me, being a lawyer meant being a trial attorney helping injured people. What sealed it was a family vacation in Washington, D.C., where I saw all those women walking around with briefcases, wearing socks and sneakers and suits with little bow ties that mimicked their male counterparts\u2019 neckties. I thought they looked so cool. (Anyone over 55 years old will recall the thick yellow or blue tie material with little paisleys.)<\/p>\n
So, I decided that that was who I wanted to be.<\/p>\n
As I got older, I progressed beyond how cool I\u2019d look in a particular professional uniform. My desire to be a trial lawyer didn\u2019t waver, however, and as it turns out, I was right. (If looking cool had remained my top consideration, I would have been an astronaut, a cowboy, or Cher).<\/p>\n
To be clear, I do not think wardrobe should figure prominently in anyone\u2019s career decision. In fact, there are several things for potential PI lawyers to consider before shopping for that new going-to-court suit.<\/p>\n
Is Being a Personal Injury Lawyer a Good Fit for<\/strong> You?<\/h2>\nWhether a new graduate or an attorney considering a switch to PI practice, I urge you to look in the mirror and be frank with yourself about whether personal injury law is a good fit. Being a PI lawyer is not nuclear physics, but it is intellectually and emotionally demanding. You regularly deal with people who have suffered trauma and are in dire straits. They expect you, the lawyer, to make everything all better right away. Usually, you can\u2019t. Always, you have to tell them that.<\/p>\n
In fairness to your clients and your real life, you need to be able to compartmentalize so that you can give your all to your clients and represent them zealously, but still read bedtime stories to your kids, or read this month\u2019s book club book, or go out to dinner with someone who isn\u2019t a work colleague. If you can\u2019t compartmentalize, then a PI practice is not for you because eventually it will eat you up. Then you won\u2019t be any good to your clients, your family or yourself.<\/p>\n
Next, assuming you have the emotional strength to assure people all day long that, even though the sky isn\u2019t falling, you can\u2019t build them a brand-new roof right away, you need to consider whether you can handle the intellectual rigors of a personal injury law career. <\/p>\n
Academic prowess, though not the main factor, should be a consideration. If, however, you are reasonably academically inclined and willing to work hard, you can handle the intellectual side of law school and PI law. <\/p>\n
In addition to the workload and emotional stress of PI practice, you must be sure you have the attributes required for the job.<\/p>\n
Attributes of a Successful Personal Injury Lawyer<\/strong><\/h2>\nFirst is natural curiosity.<\/h3>\n
When you represent injured people, you have to get them to tell you their story. And after you hear several hundred stories, they can all start to sound the same. \u201cBlah, blah, blah, neck hurts. Blah, blah, blah, can\u2019t sleep, blah, blah, blah can\u2019t vacuum.\u201d (I always viewed that last one as a bonus, not a problem.) If you have natural curiosity, you don\u2019t hear the same story because there is always some twist or something interesting about the real human telling the story \u2026 if it is your natural inclination to ask. If it\u2019s not, then getting to that story will be tedious and overwhelming, and you will not enjoy a PI practice.<\/p>\n
A close second is the ability to listen well.<\/h3>\n
If PI clients come to you, it\u2019s probably because they feel like an insurance adjuster didn\u2019t listen to them. So you must. You must listen wholeheartedly to not only what your client says but also how. Body language is as important as the spoken word when you are trying to draw a story from someone. So, when you are talking with a client about what they went through, you cannot also be scrolling on your laptop or phone. No taking a call from another client. No doodling on a notepad. You have to be able to focus on the person who is talking to you so that they trust that you understand and are genuinely concerned and interested in what they are going through.<\/p>\n
Empathy is also important \u2026 sort of.<\/h3>\n
Your clients aren\u2019t paying you to tell them what they want to hear. They want your sympathy, but they are paying for your professional judgment. Sometimes that judgment is that they are not entitled to what they think they are \u2014 or to anything at all. (\u201cI know that slide at the park that cut your child was really dangerous, but Recreational Use Immunity shields the park district.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Again, if you don\u2019t think you\u2019ll be able to tell clients what they don\u2019t want to hear, PI is not for you.<\/p>\n
The Best Way to Find Out If PI Practice Is Right For You<\/h2>\n
Even if you are sure you are built to be a PI lawyer, I don\u2019t recommend jumping into law school directly after graduating from college.<\/p>\n
If you are a student considering law school, by all means, join the debate team, pay attention in civics classes, study political science or even journalism in undergrad (not English lit), and take an LSAT prep course. <\/p>\n
Just as important: Get a job \u2014 any job \u2014 in a law office. <\/p>\n
Working in a law office before applying to law school \u2014 or early in your law school career \u2014 is the best way to figure out if PI practice is for you. Talk to practicing lawyers about their work and<\/em> life. Ask a lot of questions. Find out if your thoughts about how a PI practice would work for you are realistic.<\/p>\nLawyers are always looking for support staff. You probably (not a chance) won\u2019t be asked to help with actual cases, but even sitting at a desk answering phones will give you a glimpse of what the practice is really like. In fact, if you are sitting at the front desk, you\u2019ll learn quickly if PI is for you the first time an amputee client offers what is left of his hand for a handshake, which you cannot decline.<\/p>\n
Better still is an internship in a law office where you get experience with the work of a PI lawyer. While internships are harder to find than support positions, they are out there. You just have to chase them.<\/p>\n
How to Find an Internship<\/h3>\n
The best way to find an internship is to ASK EVERYONE. If you meet anyone affiliated with a law office in any way, ask them if their attorneys do informational interviews or if they would be willing to spend a little time on the phone with you. Then follow through and reach out.<\/p>\n
If you see a lawyer\u2019s ad on a city bus or on TV, give that lawyer a call.<\/p>\n
Flattery may get you everywhere. All lawyers were young once, and my experience is that lawyers are generous with their time when young potential lawyers reach out. I\u2019ve spoken with many potential law students over the years. Even when I was not able to offer an internship, I have always been able to give them the names of other lawyers they could talk to. Remember, the first five lawyers you talk to may not have an internship opening<\/a>, but the sixth just might.<\/p>\nMake Sure PI Practice Suits You<\/h2>\n
Deciding whether a PI practice is the right one for you is serious. While you can always change your practice area, making the right decision at the start can help you avoid the stress of working in a practice that is not suited to you. Getting at least a glimpse of a PI practice before you enter law school can save you the trauma of working in a job you hate.<\/p>\n
The first years of a law practice are hard. If you are like most young, smart, driven new lawyers, it will likely be the first time in your life that you won\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing. The learning curve is steep, and if you hate the work, that mountain is insurmountable. If, however, you look both inside and out and decide the life of a PI lawyer is for you, it can be a satisfying and rewarding career.<\/p>\n
Not everyone is emotionally suited to personal injury practice. If you are, personal injury law offers a wonderful opportunity to make a living meeting and helping interesting people when they are most in need.<\/p>\n
Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/AttorneyatWork-Logo-%C2%AE-2021-1.jpg?resize=372%2C106&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\nSign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Susan Cohodes encourages aspiring PI lawyers to be honest about whether they’re cut out for the rigors of personal injury practice \u2014 before it eats you up. The post A Career in Personal Injury Law, If You Can Take It: Is PI Practice for You? appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \n
- First is natural curiosity.<\/a><\/li>\n
- A close second is the ability to listen well.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Empathy is also important \u2026 sort of.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- The Best Way to Find Out If PI Practice Is Right For You<\/a>\n
- \n
- How to Find an Internship<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Make Sure PI Practice Suits You<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
When aspiring lawyers ask me for advice on the best path to becoming a personal injury lawyer, my answer is always some variation of, \u201cDo what I say, not what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took what was, back in the day, the standard path to becoming a lawyer. Four years of undergrad straight out of high school, followed immediately by three years of law school. My first job in a law office wasn\u2019t until the second semester of my first year of law school.<\/p>\n
As I wind down my career and look back, I\u2019m not sure that was the best path. Law school is too big an investment of time and money to jump in without some practical experience in the type of law you want to practice. These days, more college graduates are spending a couple of years working (or traveling) before starting law school, and that\u2019s what I recommend.<\/p>\n
Before Shopping for Your Lawyer Suit<\/h2>\n
I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer. When I was 12 years old (in 1972), I announced that goal to my parents. Maybe it was the Perry Mason reruns, but to me, being a lawyer meant being a trial attorney helping injured people. What sealed it was a family vacation in Washington, D.C., where I saw all those women walking around with briefcases, wearing socks and sneakers and suits with little bow ties that mimicked their male counterparts\u2019 neckties. I thought they looked so cool. (Anyone over 55 years old will recall the thick yellow or blue tie material with little paisleys.)<\/p>\n
So, I decided that that was who I wanted to be.<\/p>\n
As I got older, I progressed beyond how cool I\u2019d look in a particular professional uniform. My desire to be a trial lawyer didn\u2019t waver, however, and as it turns out, I was right. (If looking cool had remained my top consideration, I would have been an astronaut, a cowboy, or Cher).<\/p>\n
To be clear, I do not think wardrobe should figure prominently in anyone\u2019s career decision. In fact, there are several things for potential PI lawyers to consider before shopping for that new going-to-court suit.<\/p>\n
Is Being a Personal Injury Lawyer a Good Fit for<\/strong> You?<\/h2>\n
Whether a new graduate or an attorney considering a switch to PI practice, I urge you to look in the mirror and be frank with yourself about whether personal injury law is a good fit. Being a PI lawyer is not nuclear physics, but it is intellectually and emotionally demanding. You regularly deal with people who have suffered trauma and are in dire straits. They expect you, the lawyer, to make everything all better right away. Usually, you can\u2019t. Always, you have to tell them that.<\/p>\n
In fairness to your clients and your real life, you need to be able to compartmentalize so that you can give your all to your clients and represent them zealously, but still read bedtime stories to your kids, or read this month\u2019s book club book, or go out to dinner with someone who isn\u2019t a work colleague. If you can\u2019t compartmentalize, then a PI practice is not for you because eventually it will eat you up. Then you won\u2019t be any good to your clients, your family or yourself.<\/p>\n
Next, assuming you have the emotional strength to assure people all day long that, even though the sky isn\u2019t falling, you can\u2019t build them a brand-new roof right away, you need to consider whether you can handle the intellectual rigors of a personal injury law career. <\/p>\n
Academic prowess, though not the main factor, should be a consideration. If, however, you are reasonably academically inclined and willing to work hard, you can handle the intellectual side of law school and PI law. <\/p>\n
In addition to the workload and emotional stress of PI practice, you must be sure you have the attributes required for the job.<\/p>\n
Attributes of a Successful Personal Injury Lawyer<\/strong><\/h2>\n
First is natural curiosity.<\/h3>\n
When you represent injured people, you have to get them to tell you their story. And after you hear several hundred stories, they can all start to sound the same. \u201cBlah, blah, blah, neck hurts. Blah, blah, blah, can\u2019t sleep, blah, blah, blah can\u2019t vacuum.\u201d (I always viewed that last one as a bonus, not a problem.) If you have natural curiosity, you don\u2019t hear the same story because there is always some twist or something interesting about the real human telling the story \u2026 if it is your natural inclination to ask. If it\u2019s not, then getting to that story will be tedious and overwhelming, and you will not enjoy a PI practice.<\/p>\n
A close second is the ability to listen well.<\/h3>\n
If PI clients come to you, it\u2019s probably because they feel like an insurance adjuster didn\u2019t listen to them. So you must. You must listen wholeheartedly to not only what your client says but also how. Body language is as important as the spoken word when you are trying to draw a story from someone. So, when you are talking with a client about what they went through, you cannot also be scrolling on your laptop or phone. No taking a call from another client. No doodling on a notepad. You have to be able to focus on the person who is talking to you so that they trust that you understand and are genuinely concerned and interested in what they are going through.<\/p>\n
Empathy is also important \u2026 sort of.<\/h3>\n
Your clients aren\u2019t paying you to tell them what they want to hear. They want your sympathy, but they are paying for your professional judgment. Sometimes that judgment is that they are not entitled to what they think they are \u2014 or to anything at all. (\u201cI know that slide at the park that cut your child was really dangerous, but Recreational Use Immunity shields the park district.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Again, if you don\u2019t think you\u2019ll be able to tell clients what they don\u2019t want to hear, PI is not for you.<\/p>\n
The Best Way to Find Out If PI Practice Is Right For You<\/h2>\n
Even if you are sure you are built to be a PI lawyer, I don\u2019t recommend jumping into law school directly after graduating from college.<\/p>\n
If you are a student considering law school, by all means, join the debate team, pay attention in civics classes, study political science or even journalism in undergrad (not English lit), and take an LSAT prep course. <\/p>\n
Just as important: Get a job \u2014 any job \u2014 in a law office. <\/p>\n
Working in a law office before applying to law school \u2014 or early in your law school career \u2014 is the best way to figure out if PI practice is for you. Talk to practicing lawyers about their work and<\/em> life. Ask a lot of questions. Find out if your thoughts about how a PI practice would work for you are realistic.<\/p>\n
Lawyers are always looking for support staff. You probably (not a chance) won\u2019t be asked to help with actual cases, but even sitting at a desk answering phones will give you a glimpse of what the practice is really like. In fact, if you are sitting at the front desk, you\u2019ll learn quickly if PI is for you the first time an amputee client offers what is left of his hand for a handshake, which you cannot decline.<\/p>\n
Better still is an internship in a law office where you get experience with the work of a PI lawyer. While internships are harder to find than support positions, they are out there. You just have to chase them.<\/p>\n
How to Find an Internship<\/h3>\n
The best way to find an internship is to ASK EVERYONE. If you meet anyone affiliated with a law office in any way, ask them if their attorneys do informational interviews or if they would be willing to spend a little time on the phone with you. Then follow through and reach out.<\/p>\n
If you see a lawyer\u2019s ad on a city bus or on TV, give that lawyer a call.<\/p>\n
Flattery may get you everywhere. All lawyers were young once, and my experience is that lawyers are generous with their time when young potential lawyers reach out. I\u2019ve spoken with many potential law students over the years. Even when I was not able to offer an internship, I have always been able to give them the names of other lawyers they could talk to. Remember, the first five lawyers you talk to may not have an internship opening<\/a>, but the sixth just might.<\/p>\n
Make Sure PI Practice Suits You<\/h2>\n
Deciding whether a PI practice is the right one for you is serious. While you can always change your practice area, making the right decision at the start can help you avoid the stress of working in a practice that is not suited to you. Getting at least a glimpse of a PI practice before you enter law school can save you the trauma of working in a job you hate.<\/p>\n
The first years of a law practice are hard. If you are like most young, smart, driven new lawyers, it will likely be the first time in your life that you won\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing. The learning curve is steep, and if you hate the work, that mountain is insurmountable. If, however, you look both inside and out and decide the life of a PI lawyer is for you, it can be a satisfying and rewarding career.<\/p>\n
Not everyone is emotionally suited to personal injury practice. If you are, personal injury law offers a wonderful opportunity to make a living meeting and helping interesting people when they are most in need.<\/p>\n
Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\nSign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Susan Cohodes encourages aspiring PI lawyers to be honest about whether they’re cut out for the rigors of personal injury practice \u2014 before it eats you up. The post A Career in Personal Injury Law, If You Can Take It: Is PI Practice for You? appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Make Sure PI Practice Suits You<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- A close second is the ability to listen well.<\/a><\/li>\n