Let the Economic Good Times Roll
Florida Bar Survey Finds Lawyers' Earnings Are up Across the Board
By Mark D. Killian
The Florida Bar News
Managing Editor
January 15, 2005
Income for the typical Florida lawyer rose by $15,000 over the past two years to
an average of $100,000, according to The Florida Bars 2004 Economics and Law
Office Management Survey.
Florida lawyers in private practice also reported spending an average 50 hours
each week in the office and billing for 30 of those hours numbers similar to
those reported for the past four years.
The median 2003 income of $100,000 for Bar members was up from $85,000 in 2001,
$82,000 in 1999, and from $75,000 in 1997.
Complete survey results may be obtained from the Bars Research, Planning, and
Evaluation Department by sending in the coupon at the bottom of this page.
The poll is taken every other year to keep lawyers informed on what their
colleagues are doing in various areas of law office management. This years
survey was completed by 459 lawyers from a sample of 2,751. The 17 percent
response rate much lower than past surveys and attributed to the four
hurricanes that arrived during the time the survey was distributed gives a 5
percent margin of error, according to Mike Garcia, director of the Bars
Research, Planning, and Evaluation Department.
The survey found 77 percent of Florida lawyers are in private practice, while 16
percent are government lawyers or judges. The remainder work as corporate
counsel, for legal aid offices, or for other employers. Sixty-six percent of
respondents report working in a firm or other legal setting with five or fewer
lawyers, while 11 percent say they work with 26 or more attorneys.
Salaries and Benefits
Overall, 2004 income reported in the survey ranged from zero to $1.4 million.
Associates fresh out of law school averaged $45,000 in 2004 up $5,000 from
the 2002 survey while new law grads with some experience made $50,000. The
median for lawyers with fewer than three years of experience was $55,000,
compared with $70,000 for those in practice three to five years, and $80,000 for
those with six to eight years of experience.
Associates with more than eight years experience had a median income of
$100,000, up $10,000 from two years ago.
The survey found a partner or shareholder typically made $135,000, up $10,000
from two years ago. Sole practioners reported a median income of $85,000, up
$10,000 from two years ago, and state government lawyers had a median income of
$50,000, also up $5,000 from two years ago.
Respondents reported 50 percent of their offices gross receipts in 2004 went
to pay the lawyers in the office, while 20 percent went to support staff
salaries, and the remaining 30 percent paid for all the other firm expenses,
percentages that all held steady over the past two years.
The survey found 65 percent of Florida firms employ legal assistants/paralegals.
The typical newly hired legal assistant/paralegal without experience made
$26,000 last year. Current legal assistants/paralegals with less than five years
experience made $30,500, while those with five to 10 years experience made
$40,000, and those on the job for more than 10 years pulled in $45,000.
The average salary for newly hired legal secretaries without experience was
$25,000, compared with $28,000 for those with less than five years experience,
$35,000 for those with five to 10 years of experience, and $39,500 for those
current employees with more than 10 years on the job.
Billable Hours
The poll showed that 63 percent of all respondents maintain billable hours and
for those that keep them, 54 percent billed 1,600 hours or fewer in 2003. Ten
percent billed between 1,601 and 1,800 hours, 16 percent billed from 1,801 to
2,000 hours, and 19 percent said they billed more than 2,000 hours.
The survey found 78 percent of respondents list their hourly rate at $150 or
higher and 13 percent said they charge $300 or more an hour.
Fifty-one percent of respondents in private practice report they always use
written fee contracts, while 20 percent indicated they seldom or never use them.
The survey also showed 67 percent of all respondents use a written fee contract
to disclose what costs will be charged to clients and the basis/rate for such
costs, while 13 percent said they provide a separate written disclosure on
billings, and 13 percent said they disclose what costs will be charged to
clients orally. At least three-quarters of all private practice respondents
included an itemized list of services performed (79 percent) and an itemized
list of disbursements (75 percent) in their billing statements to clients.
Contingency Fees
Just under half (49 percent) of all
respondents report that their firms handle contingency fee cases. Of those who
accept cases on a contingency fee basis, the majority say those types of cases
comprise less than 25 percent of the total number of cases they handle. The
study found no significant difference since 2000 in the percentage of cases that
are handled on a contingency fee basis.
Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of those who handle contingency fee cases report
their firm receives between 30 and 39 percent of the amount awarded if the case
is won.
Hourly Rates Continue to Climb
By
Mark D. Killian
Florida Bar News
February 1, 2005
Seventy-eight percent of Florida
lawyers who bill by the hour say their rate is $150 an hour or higher and the
percentage of Florida lawyers who report they charge in excess of $200 has been
steadily increasing, according to The Florida Bars 2004 Economics and Law
Office Management Survey.
The survey which is taken every other year to keep lawyers informed on what
their colleagues are doing in various areas of law office management found
that 50 percent of respondents to the 2004 survey now charge $200 or more per
hour, compared with 42 percent who said they charged $200 or more in 2002; 27
percent in 2000; and 22 percent in 1998.
The breakdown for the 2004 hourly rate information includes:
Less than $100 6 percent.
$100 to $124 7 percent.
$125 to $149 9 percent.
$150 to $174 11 percent.
$175 to $199 17 percent
$200 to $224 14 percent.
$225 to $249 9 percent.
$250 to $274 12 percent.
$275 to $299 2 percent.
$300 or more 13 percent.
This years survey was completed by 459 lawyers from a sample of 2,751. The 17
percent response rate much lower than past surveys and attributed to the four
hurricanes that arrived during the time the survey was distributed gives a 5
percent margin of error, according to Mike Garcia, director of the Bars
Research, Planning, and Evaluation Department.
Of those Florida lawyers who indicate they bill by the hour, almost half (45
percent) report having more than 1,600 billable hours in 2003. Thirty-five
percent report billing more than 1,800 hours in 2003.
The southeast region of Florida contains the highest percentage (58 percent) of
lawyers who charge an hourly rate of $200 or more. Lawyers in the northern part
of the state have the highest percentage (65 percent) of attorneys who charge an
hourly rate of $200 or less, according to the survey.
Seventy-two percent of all managing partners and partner/shareholders surveyed
report an average hourly rate of $200 or more. Fifty-seven percent of associates
report an hourly rate of less than $200, while 46 percent of sole practitioners
report an hourly rate of $174 or less.
Forty-two percent of those surveyed said the hourly rate billed for legal work
performed by their legal assistants or paralegals is more than $80, and 71
percent report the hourly rate is over $60 per hour.
Nearly half of all respondents (49 percent) said the paralegals/legal assistants
in their firms averaged less than 750 billable hours in 2003, and 30 percent
said the paralegals/legal assistants averaged more than 1,250 billable hours in
2003.