Company
Macdonald & Cody
Annual salary
$100k – $220k/yr
Location
San Diego, CA
Listed
151d ago
- Experience:
- 1 to 10 years
- Workplace:
- In-person at assigned office (San Diego, Irvine, or Riverside, CA). Candidates must be able to commute to their assigned office. Travel within California, including LA and surrounding counties, with occasional central and northern CA, is required for court appearances, depositions, and site inspections. No remote or hybrid option is available.
- Visa:
- Visa sponsorship not available
- Equity:
- No equity compensation is offered for this role. Macdonald & Cody is a privately held law firm; compensation is structured around base salary and a performance-based billable hours bonus ladder.
On-site in San Diego, CA. Visa sponsorship not available.
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About this Role
Macdonald & Cody is a California insurance defense firm with four offices and a high-volume catastrophic personal injury practice. We are hiring Litigation Attorneys at both the senior (5+ years) and junior (1, 3 years post-bar) levels across our San Diego, Irvine, and Riverside offices.
What you'll do
- Manage full lifecycle litigation, from pleadings and Case Management Orders through discovery, law & motion, depositions, trial prep, and trial
- Propound and respond to written discovery; draft and argue law and motion matters
- Take and defend depositions, including expert witness depositions
- Conduct site inspections and travel within California (LA and surrounding counties; occasional central/northern CA) for court appearances and depositions
- Serve as first- or second-chair at trial, real courtroom opportunities, not paper litigation
- Collaborate with a 2:1 attorney-to-assistant team in a casual, collegial office environment
- Interface directly with insurance carriers, experts, and clients with meaningful autonomy
What you need
- We need an insurance defense litigator (ideally with a strong catastrophic personal injury background) who can run a file independently from pleadings through trial. You should be comfortable managing a caseload of 30, 40 active matters, handling court appearances, depositions, and site inspections, and have a genuine appetite for first- and second-chair trial opportunities. Bonus points if you have experience with expert depositions and a track record of taking cases all the way through verdict.
- Active California State Bar membership in good standing
- Senior track: 5+ years of insurance defense litigation experience
- Junior track: 1, 3 years post-bar with insurance defense exposure
- Demonstrated experience drafting CMOs, handling court appearances, and managing written discovery
- Track record taking and defending depositions, including expert depositions
- Ability and willingness to commute to assigned CA office (San Diego, Irvine, or Riverside) and travel within CA
- Excellent analytical, writing, research, and communication skills
Hard exclusions, please do not apply if:
You are currently at a plaintiff-side firm (e.g., Sweet James, Morgan & Morgan, or similar billboard firms)
You have a construction defect-only background with no interest in broader insurance defense work
You intend to submit a blinded or confidential resume
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply for the Litigation Attorney (Southern California) (US) role at Macdonald & Cody? +
Use the Apply for a referral button on this page to send us your LinkedIn and CV. If your experience fits, we'll introduce you to the recruiter filling this role. They'll email you to check you're interested, then put you forward for this job or others that suit you better. It's free.
What does this Macdonald & Cody role pay? +
The listing gives $100k – $220k/yr.
Is this role remote? +
The listing gives the location as San Diego, CA. In-person at assigned office (San Diego, Irvine, or Riverside, CA). Candidates must be able to commute to their assigned office. Travel within California, including LA and surrounding counties, with occasional central and northern CA, is required for court appearances, depositions, and site inspections. No remote or hybrid option is available. Visa sponsorship not available.
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