Plaintiffs’ Firms and Private Public Interest Law Firms (PPILFs) - Harvard Law School

Plaintiffs’ firms are private, for-profit law firms that represent individuals and groups seeking to redress injuries, commonly in the fields of workers’ rights, consumer rights, personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability, antitrust violations, and securities fraud. They can overlap with private public interest law firms (PPILFs), which are private, for-profit firms with a primary mission to assist underrepresented people or causes, rather than exclusively to make money and to dedicate at least a significant portion of their primary (not pro bono) caseload to matters that have some broad social, political, or economic impact, often focused on a particular topic or mission. This mission creates differences in billing practices and client selection. Some clients may be chosen with more emphasis on their need for the firm’s services and the cause their claim relates to, regardless of their ability to pay. Sliding scale fees, free work, attorney fee cases, and contingent fee cases are common. Deciding whether a particular law firm fits within the definition of a “plaintiffs’ firm” or “public interest law firm” is not always a simple task. An individual firm’s classification will require additional research into the firm’s overall philosophy, clients, and cases.

How Do I Get There?

These firms’ hiring processes tend to differ both from law firms participating in the Early Interview Program (EIP) and from most public interest employers, such as non-profits and government entities. Many PPILFs and plaintiffs’ firms may not list summer internship postings on their own websites or on external job boards, and most do not participate in recruiting programs like EIP or the Virtual Public Interest Interview Program (V-PIIP). Therefore, proactive outreach can be a key component of a summer search in this practice setting. Though they range in size, most plaintiffs’ firms and PPILFs are small and prefer to hire experienced attorneys. Some do not accept 1L summer interns or even summer interns at all, and those that do host 2L summer interns may or may not be in a position to extend a return offer for an entry-level post-graduate job. A few PPILFs host their own competitive post-graduate fellowship programs, providing a clearer entry point into the firm for recent alumni exiting a clerkship, or occasionally a 3L. As they are for-profit, PPILFs and plaintiffs’ firms generally do not qualify for public interest fellowships through external funders like the Skadden Foundation or Equal Justice Works, or for HLS-funded fellowships like the Public Service Venture Fund Organization-Based Fellowships.

Employers typically look for the following in candidates:

A demonstrated commitment to public interest, and potentially to the firm’s specialty areas
A judicial clerkship (see note above; some firms will consider 3Ls)
Client-based skills
Litigation skills
Writing skills
Negotiation skills

Salaries at PPILFs and plaintiffs’ firms can vary significantly. Many summer positions at PPILFs or plaintiffs’ firms are paid, albeit at a lower level than large law firms participating in EIP. Some PPILFs qualify for Summer Public Interest Funding (SPIF), while others do not. OCS and OPIA recommend that you vet your summer position with SPIF staff in Student Financial Services to confirm whether it would qualify for SPIF.

Job Search Resources

A few plaintiffs’ firms and several litigation boutiques that represent a mix of plaintiffs and defendants participate in EIP. If you would like to interview with a firm participating in EIP, please be sure to register for EIP and make an appointment with OCS to discuss your EIP plan.
Information about plaintiffs’ firms and PPILFs and a non-exhaustive list of these types of firms can be found in OPIA’s PPILF Guide and practicing attorneys discuss their work and careers in OPIA’s PPILF Practice Setting Videos; to discuss further after reviewing this information, please make an appointment with an OPIA adviser.
Some plaintiffs’ firms and PPILFs participate in V-PIIP held every fall and spring, and representatives from some of these types of firms attend the Virtual Public Interest Networking Reception every winter.
You can also learn more about these firms from past interns identified through the Who Worked Where lists and HLS alumni identified through Amicus, LinkedIn, or OPIA advisers.
OCS provides resources to help you search for small and mid-sized firms, some of which represent plaintiffs or are PPILFs, as well as podcasts on plaintiffs’ class action work, plaintiff-side employment law, criminal defense, family, and more in the Beyond Big Law Podcast Series.