Job Advice & Resources: Navigating Your Way Into the Plaintiffs’ Bar
If plaintiffs’ law sounds interesting to you, but you want to learn more, you’ve come to the right place. NPLA has gathered podcasts, webinars, articles and more to help students learn more about the plaintiffs’ bar and navigate the job search process.
Podcasts
✳︎
Webinars
✳︎
Books
✳︎
Podcasts ✳︎ Webinars ✳︎ Books ✳︎
For Law Students
“Cause of Action” Podcast
A show about building a thriving legal career and practicing law that can change the world.
Each episode, San Francisco-based plaintiffs' attorney and UC Berkeley Law instructor Spencer Pahlke sits down with one of the top attorneys in the country, exploring what they do, and how law students can find a job they'll love.
“How To Get a Job You’ll Really Like”
This talk, by Shanin Specter, advises students on finding a rewarding and meaningful legal career across multiple facets, including serving the public good, pay, and work-life balance.
March 1, 2020: UC Berkeley School of Law
February 28, 2022: UC Law San Francisco
“What Hiring Plaintiffs Firms Are Looking For”
A recorded panel discussion, presented in association with AAJ, on how law students can best position themselves for a job at a plaintiffs’ firm. The panel features hiring partners at three major plaintiffs firms: Eileen Epstein Carney at Gibbs Mura, Danielle Mason at Singleton Schreiber and Shanin Specter at Kline & Specter. These attorneys address grades, cover letter, pay and more.
The password for the recording can be found here.
“5 Tips for Aspiring Plaintiffs’ Lawyers”
Following NPLA’s feature in Bloomberg Law, David Lat interviewed a number of outstanding plaintiffs’ attorneys to ask for their best advice for law students, including Deepak Gupta of Gupta Wessler, Alex Walsh of Anapol Weiss, and Jay Edelson of Edelson P.C.
“What Practitioners Can Do for Law Students and What Law Students Can Do for Practitioners”
Most law schools are taught by professors with little or no real practice experience, which means the "real world" of how cases are chosen, argued, and won often isn't something taught in law school. This article, written by Shanin Specter, explains that gap and encourages students to rectify it by seeking out mentorship and learning opportunities from practitioners.
Trial Magazine Spread
The March 2026 edition of AAJ’s Trial Magazine features two articles focused on law students. The first article, written by Shanin Specter, explains why plaintiffs’ law is increasingly attractive to law students because of its greater flexibility, opportunity and purpose. The second article, written by Lisa Qian, describes how the Stanford PLA grew from founding in 2017 to become a campus institution.
“Graduates Look to Skip Big Law, Go Straight to Plaintiffs’ Firms”
From Bloomberg News, this article details the rise of the National Plaintiffs’ Law Association and Plaintiffs’ Law Associations across the country, and features NPLA co-president Jan Rotich and former NPLA board members Abbey Carbajal and Julia Gokhberg, as well as many of NPLA’s advisors.