Lately, I have seen many plaintiffs’ attorneys (and would-be plaintiffs’ attorneys) watch the explosion of mass tort litigation over the last decade from the sidelines and wonder how they can join the fray. Intrigued by complex legal and factual issues, the ability to help hundreds or thousands of clients simultaneously secure justice, and the lucrative fees they could earn by doing so, these attorneys are considering adding a mass tort litigation practice to their firms.

But while most plaintiffs’ firms’ practice areas will naturally have different attributes and require different levels of investment in marketing and prosecuting cases—compare a premise liability practice with a birth injury medical malpractice one—mass torts are a different animal from all other plaintiffs’ firms’ practice areas. If an attorney wants to launch and scale a mass tort litigation practice that secures favorable results for clients and is profitable, they will need the following five things.

They will need patience