Although far more difficult a prospect, there still remain areas of practice within the modern claims sector that can be seen as niche. What is clear, however, is that those niches have become far more specialized and specific.
One of the main areas in which niches appear in the modern claims sector is very specific to client base, so there are firms which only service disabled clients, or military personnel. They become expert in that area, and can offer a more “bespoke” service to cater to the specific needs of that client base, in a way that a more traditional firm simply will be unable to replicate.
There are also firms who deliver to very specific communities, who can be seen as having a niche in that area of work, so, for example, I am aware of firms in Los Angeles which cater specifically to Korean clients, almost the entire staff can speak Korean, and they are known in the Korean community as the place to go for any legal requirements.
Then there are the specific areas of law that are often seen as areas most other law firms do not want to get involved in because they are too difficult, time-consuming, or involve more risk than many firms are prepared to face. For example my own firm, Nesbit Law Group, deals with cases where our main client base are doctors looking to recover unpaid bills for medical services against either personal Injury attorneys or against major medical Insurers. Similarly, there are firms that deal specifically with class action cases, or workers compensation claims.
Finally, rather than niche-specific firms, practices have moved away from doing a variety of different types of PI and have become specialist in specific types of personal injury activity, for example focusing on Industrial disease cases only, or medical malpractice claims. Although specifically niche, they are undoubted specialists in their area of law.