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What's the ceiling like for being a workers compensation lawyer in LA?
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Date: May 23rd, 2026 5:45 PM Author: Pope Leo XXX I know a 40 yr old associate at a firm there and she was bragging about her compensation and lifestyle. She's been doing it for 6 yrs
Whats her probable compensation and ceiling? |
Date: May 23rd, 2026 6:59 PM Author: Pope Leo XXX (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49896939) |
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Date: May 23rd, 2026 7:00 PM Author: Buy your next house instantly with Zellow! How do the fees work per case? Does a statute set a certain amount? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49896947) |
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Date: May 23rd, 2026 8:06 PM Author: Pope Leo XXX I have no clue
I'm not a law-mo |
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Date: May 24th, 2026 9:32 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49897962) |
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Date: May 24th, 2026 9:42 AM Author: luke the drifter (definite and ineradicable gauge of its upward moving) She probably makes $150,000 and hates her life. That’s not bragging. It’s her desperate screams for help. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49897967) |
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Date: May 24th, 2026 9:59 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX only $150k? she made it sound like shes pulling in 200-300k
how much do partners in workers comp make |
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Date: May 24th, 2026 10:00 AM Author: luke the drifter (definite and ineradicable gauge of its upward moving) I don’t know but rates are shit so it isn’t much and it isn’t chill. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49897996) |
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Date: May 24th, 2026 10:02 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX whats the not chill/contentious part of it
do lawyers really get into SCOTUS style oral arguments in workers comp mediations |
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Date: May 24th, 2026 10:05 AM Author: luke the drifter (definite and ineradicable gauge of its upward moving) I have no idea what her practice is like. I imagine it sucks though. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49898002) |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 8:58 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49899682) |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 9:06 AM Author: Billy Buttnut ((zurich is stained)) back when i was a brand new lol grad/bar member, i was interviewing at all sorts of shitlaw places and i interviewed at a couple of WC defense firms. they seemed absolutely awful.
i don't know much about the practice area, but i think on the defense side, it's insurance bullshit so the only way you make over 200k is if you're a solo with associates or a name partner in a shitshop firm (and even then you're probably making like $205k).
not sure whether plaintiff-side WC shitlawyers can make a lot. maybe that's possible? that doesn't seem lucrative either tho.
agree with the dood above who said this person you talked to likely makes $150k (and i bet she works her ass off). i can assure you of one thing: no associate at a WC firm is making a lot of money. |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 9:19 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX how much do insurance companies pay defense lawyers - whats the ceiling
isn't WC capped at some outrageously low amount. so how much money is even in this practice area
she was implying that she was making biglaw money
name partner makes $205k??? whats the point of LAWL at that salary |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 9:24 AM Author: Billy Buttnut ((zurich is stained)) i had to work at an ID slophouse my first year of practice, and it was miserable. this was back in 2006, and the insurers generally paid from $150-225 for attorney time, and they wrote off tons of entries.
since moving into L&E, i've come across some insurance shit but not much (i never did much employment, and i'm now 100% traditional labor, which never really involves insured matters) - but i think the rates for that "specialized" (lmao) work is higher, although we're talking like $300-350 probably.
the only person doing WC and making biglaw money is a solo who has a bunch of underpaid associates. this bitch is either straight up lying to you (and probably herself, to keep herself sane) or is clueless. the latter is definitely possible, because she did wind up in WC after all.
and yes, many lawyers barely scrape by. it's sad stuff. |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 9:26 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX $150-225 doesnt sound bad, how much did that translate salary wise? 1500 at 150 is $225k
how much can someone get from WC btw, are there people living on it like the DEI SSI/disability people |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 9:29 AM Author: Billy Buttnut ((zurich is stained)) Standard back then for ID was like $60-75k.
assuming $200 an hour and 2000 hours, that's $400k, but then you have to factor in time the insurer won't pay for so i bet that knocks a good $100k off. $300k revenue, as an associate you aren't making very much. you likely top out around $125k, and that's as a senior associate. this is back then, but i bet shitlaw associate wages have stayed more or less flat. |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 9:41 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX ty for this, i mean inflation adusted 125k is about 200k now but still that isn't great for a senior associate
what do people get for WC nowadays for 100% disabled |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 9:43 AM Author: Billy Buttnut ((zurich is stained)) i honestly highly doubt that she's making even 200k. i could be wrong tho, my experience was 20 years ago (jfc, time flies).
i know nothing about WC, so i can't help you there. it doesn't seem like a potential cash cow like injury or employment/overtime cases. and i think i'm right that the defense side are just ID losers.
unrelated note: i can't believe i made it out of that situation and wound up in biglaw. thank christ. |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 10:01 AM Author: Pope Leo XXX how do you go from shitlaw to biglaw? I always thought XO said you were fucked if you didn't make it through OCI (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5868473&forum_id=2#49899752) |
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Date: May 25th, 2026 10:13 AM Author: Billy Buttnut ((zurich is stained)) probably a 5% chance of this happening. here is my story:
i didn't really try in lol school. i wrote on to law review, but other than that i never really put any effort in. i was there because i couldn't get a job with my literature degree. didn't pay any attention at all to how firm hiring works and i actually wanted a federal job. i interned at the US attys office in DC my first summer and then after that i worked as a law clerk in the national archives GC's office.
after graduation, i discovered that federal jobs are very hard to get unless you are a person of color or disabled so i started applying for firm jobs. got rejected everywhere and did temp work - doc review for a couple days but i got placed at an ID firm defending lead paint cases in baltimore. very depressing. after that, i got a job as an associate in northern va doing general ID shitlaw. i got paid $25 per billed hour as a contractor. i actually went and sat in a bathroom stall my first day and nearly cried.
anyway, after about 9 months i lined up a job with the social security admin writing decisions for ALJs. the job seemed kinda shitty (i later learned that it's notoriously awful) but whatever. i'd accepted the job but still had an interview on the books: a general practice shitlaw firm outside of baltimore and a solo who did L&E in downtown baltimore. both interviews were the same day.
i figured the interviews were just for kicks since i was definitely taking the fed job. the solo was first, and i wound up sitting in his office for like 2-3 hours talking about his practice, missed the other firm interview.
i told the SSA i was backing out and took this job, which many people told me was stupid at the time.
he was an old guy who wasn't doing any biz dev and he lost a big client 4 years later and laid me off. within 2 months i found a job at a midlaw firm in baltimore, then went to a national L&E firm for 3 years, then to biglaw. i made partner there and left afer several years. i'm at a midlaw firm now. |