Job Description

Mission Recruiting is partnering with a well-established California litigation practice that is deeply invested in high-impact habitability cases. This is an opportunity for a civil litigator who has actually lived in these cases, not someone who has only studied them or brushed up against them at a clinic level.

This role is built for an attorney who understands how habitability cases are truly won in California courts. The matters involve uninhabitable conditions, mold exposure, retaliation, and code enforcement-driven claims that require real litigation skill, strategic judgment, and confidence dealing with insurance defense.

California ’s housing landscape creates constant demand for attorneys who know how to build strong records, quantify damages, and push cases forward. The work here is substantive, fast-moving, and rooted in real-world impact for tenants across urban and suburban communities throughout the state.

What You Will Handle

• Habitability cases from intake through resolution
• Implied Warranty of Habitability claims
• Mold and uninhabitable condition matters
• Rent abatement analysis and damages evaluation
• Retaliation and wrongful eviction claims
• Code enforcement-driven cases
• Settlement negotiations with insurers and defense counsel

Hands-On Litigation Responsibilities

• Drafting and filing complaints from scratch
• Managing written discovery and deposition preparation
• Taking or defending depositions
• Responding to demurrers and motions to strike
• Opposing summary judgment
• Preparing mediation briefs
• Evaluating settlement ranges with realism and strategy

What Sets Strong Candidates Apart

• Direct experience with mold cases
• Effective use of code enforcement citations
• Handling retaliation claims with confidence
• Experience in multi-tenant or pattern cases
• Ability to frame emotional distress damages persuasively

How These Cases Are Won

• Building the record with photos and video
• Leveraging code enforcement findings
• Using medical records, even when limited
• Working with mold inspectors and habitability experts
• Deploying retaliation evidence strategically

This is not a fit for attorneys whose background is limited to eviction defense, legal aid only work, or tenant clinics without litigation responsibility. The practice needs someone who has personally handled discovery, depositions, and contested motions, and who can explain how and why cases settle at meaningful values.

Backgrounds That Often Excel Here

• Plaintiff-side tenant litigators with a courtroom focus
• Mixed landlord-tenant litigation attorneys
• Consumer protection litigators with housing crossover
• Personal injury attorneys with mold or environmental exposure cases
• Defense-side habitability litigators who have moved to the plaintiff side

Compensation

• $110,000 - $220,000

Compensation is flexible based on demonstrated skill, independence, and litigation judgment rather than titles alone.

Mission Recruiting will conduct a substantive pre-screen focused on real experience, including the ability to clearly explain case strategy, damages calculations, and landlord defenses that actually succeed. Candidates who can speak confidently and precisely about their work tend to thrive in this role.

If you are a California civil litigator who knows how habitability cases are truly litigated and resolved, this is a conversation worth having.

Salary Range: $110,000 – $220,000

Reference: 148315

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