Florida ranks among top states for lawyer population growth
Florida has the fastest growing lawyer population, with the number of active, resident lawyers increasing 17% in the past decade.
This figure from the American Bar Institute’s 2023-2024 National Lawyer Population Survey was included in the ABA’s 2024 Profile of the Legal Profession, released in November.
According to the survey, there are more than 1.3 million lawyers nationwide.
Florida, with just over 80,000 active, resident attorneys, according to the ABA, ranks fourth among states in lawyer population after New York, California, and Texas. In all, The Florida Bar boasts slightly more than 113,000 lawyers with 15% residing out of state.
Yet, Florida shows room for growth when comparing per capita rankings, coming in at 3.54, which is less than the 3.81 national average.
And when it comes to demand for attorneys, Florida ranks twice in the top four metropolitan areas in the nation with Tallahassee coming in second and Miami third behind first-place Washington, D.C., and ahead of New York.
The report determined these rankings by formulating a “location quotient” that used census data to tabulate the percentage of employment for the profession in metropolitan areas, which was divided by the national average.
The remaining metropolitan areas in the top 10 for lawyer demand were smaller cities, and many were state capitals. In order, they are Trenton, New Jersey; Santa Fe, New Mexico; New Orleans, Louisiana; Charleston, West Virginia; Denver, Colorado; and, Albany, New York.
Florida’s growth bucks the slowing national trend.
Since 2000, the growth of the legal profession has slowed nationwide. In the 20th century, the number of lawyers rose 793% — from 114,460 to just over 1 million, an average growth of nearly 8% a year. By contrast, the number of lawyers nationwide has grown a little over 1% a year since 2000 — from 1,022,462 in 2000 to 1,322,649 in 2024, an increase of 29%, according to the report.
The relative growth is good news to Florida’s lawyers, as the average lawyer’s annual salary shot up 19.2% from 2021 to 2023 — the biggest two-year leap this century, according to the study. It is now $176,470.
The ABA 2024 Profile of the Legal Profession also shows the Miami metro area has the highest percentage (28%) of law firm partners in the nation who are lawyers of color.
Growth in representation of racial and ethnic minorities within the profession is part of a national trend, almost doubling from 12% to 23% over the past decade.
Other points of note from the report:
- Graduates of ABA-accredited law schools pass the bar exam at a much higher rate than those who attend non-ABA-approved law schools or law schools outside the U.S., or those who studied in law offices.
- The percentage of new law school graduates joining law firms after graduation is higher than ever at 53%. The number of graduates getting jobs in the business sector has been falling.
- There were 1,457 sitting Article III federal judges as of August 1, 2024, and they were overwhelmingly male (67%).
- One out of every four lawyers in the U.S. reside in just two states: New York and California.
