Lawyer Statistics for Success in 2025

After a year of significant changes, preparing for success in 2025 can feel overwhelming for lawyers. Thankfully, key lawyer statistics can make gearing up for a new year a lot easier. 

Staying updated on legal industry statistics—from the total number of lawyers to technology usage—provides valuable insights to help you make informed decisions.

Whether you’re considering law school, just starting your career as a new legal professional, or guiding your practice in the right direction, we’ve gathered the latest statistics about lawyers to help you navigate the legal landscape and make smart decisions for 2025 and beyond.

For the most up-to-date lawyer statistics, don’t forget to download the latest Legal Trends Report!

Lawyer statistics for success in 2025

How many lawyers are practicing in the US?

As of January 1, 2024, there are more than 1.3 million lawyers in the United States, according to the latest ABA Profile of the Legal Profession. That’s about four lawyers for every 1,000 residents—highlighting both the size and competition within the industry.

Which states have the most lawyers?

New York (187,656 lawyers) and California (175,883 lawyers) top the list, as revealed in the Profile of the Legal Profession. Together, they account for a quarter of the nation’s total lawyers.

If you’re practicing in these states, you’re likely feeling the intensity of the competition. Building a strong law firm brand can help you stand out. If you’re outside these areas, you might find opportunities to help close the access to justice gap and tap into local markets.

What’s the projected job growth for lawyers?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 5% growth in lawyer employment from 2023 to 2033. That’s in line with the average growth rate across all occupations.

How much do lawyers earn on average?

The average lawyer wage was $176,470, based on the ABA’s Profile of the Legal Profession. This figure excludes profits for law firm partners or shareholders. Between 2021 and 2023, average lawyer wages increased by 19.2%. 

While earnings vary by region and practice area, these statistics provide a useful benchmark for assessing your own earning potential.

Which states have the highest salaries?

In 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that three of the top 10 metro areas with the highest lawyer wages were in California—San Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Two others were in the New York City metro area—New York and Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Washington, D.C., metro area also made the top 10.

Where do lawyers rank among the highest-paid professions?

Lawyers ranked 28th out of more than 800 occupations for average wages in 2023. The average wage for all U.S. workers was $65,470.

What’s the average hourly rate for lawyers?

As reported in Clio’s Legal Trends Report, the average hourly billable rate for lawyers in 2024 was $341. 

Which practice area has the highest average hourly billing rate?

Different practice areas charge vastly different rates. The Legal Trends Report found that for law firms, bankruptcy was the practice area with the highest average hourly billing rate.

Which practice area has the lowest average hourly billing rate?

The practice area with the lowest average hourly billing rate for lawyers? Juvenile law.

For more lawyer statistics, check out our blog: Seven legal marketing statistics every attorney should know. 

Law firm security statistics

Which security tools are most commonly used in law firms?

The 2023 Cybersecurity TechReport from the ABA found that spam filters are the most commonly used security tool in law firms, with 80% of firms using them. Other common tools include software firewalls (76%), anti-spyware (71%), and mandatory passwords (70%).

How are firms preventing unauthorized access to data?

Nearly half (48%) of law firms use file encryption, while 42% now offer email encryption—indicating a growing focus on data protection.

What percentage of law firms have cyber liability insurance?

The 2023 Cybersecurity TechReport—the latest report on cybersecurity in the legal industry from the ABA—found that 40% of firms have cyber liability insurance, a decrease from 46% in 2022. This signals that managing cyber risks remains a challenge for law firms.

How many law firms have experienced a security breach?

In 2023, 29% of law firms reported a security breach (such as a lost or stolen device, hacker attack, or data breach)—up from 27% the previous year.

Law firm billing and payment statistics

Which billing methods do clients prefer?

According to Clio’s 2024 Legal Trends Report, 71% percent of clients would prefer to pay a flat fee for their entire case and 51% would prefer to pay a flat fee for individual activities within their case. However, hourly billing remains the most common method, offered by 71% of firms.

What percentage of firms use flat fee billing?

Firms are billing 34% more of their cases on a flat fee basis compared to 2016. Legal professionals billing with flat fees are nearly twice as likely as those billing hourly to collect payments almost immediately. 

How much of an 8-hour workday is typically billable for lawyers?

On average, lawyers bill just 2.9 hours (37%) of an 8-hour day, as revealed in the most recent Legal Trends Report.  This suggests that many lawyers either have fewer clients or struggle with inefficiencies in their firms that prevent them from billing more hours.

How much of their billed hours are lawyers collecting?

The Legal Trends Report highlights that lawyers collect 91% of their billed hours. This means they’re losing out on 9% of what they bill to clients. Finding a way to increase this rate could mean more potential revenue coming in for the hours already worked.

Use automation to increase efficiency at your law firm: Watch our on-demand webinar to learn more.

Law firm demographic statistics

How diverse are law firms in terms of gender and race?

According to the ABA, while the profession is making progress, there’s still work to be done. For the first time, a majority of law firm associates and more than four in ten of the country’s lawyers are women. In 2023, 28% of law firm partners were women—a figure that’s slowly increasing each year.

Additionally, the percentage of lawyers of color is growing. According to the survey, it nearly doubled in the past decade. In 2014, lawyers of color were 12% of the profession. In 2024, they make up 23% of the profession.

What does this lawyer statistic mean for your law firm? As Lawline highlights, diversity has many benefits, including increasing innovation at your firm and bringing more diverse clients. To improve law firm diversity and inclusion with your firm’s brand, Katy Goshtasbi underscores a powerful four-step process to reimagining your law firm brand with diversity and EQ in mind.

Champion equality and be an ally with these five tips and strategies to build a diverse and inclusive law firm.

What is the gender balance at law schools?

ABA’s latest Profile of the Legal Profession found that women continue to outnumber men in law schools. For the sixth consecutive year, the majority of students pursuing a juris doctor degree were women, making up 56.2% of the student body.

Comparing this to the statistic above, there seems to be a disconnect between the number of women in law schools, and the number of women moving on to becoming legal practitioners. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) indicates that in the US, the top barriers women face in the workplace include getting a job and protecting women from violence. It’s worth examining how your law firm can foster a better environment for hiring more women and improving diversity.

Law firm technology statistics

What impact do new technologies have on firms?

Our latest Legal Trends Report found that firms using technology—such as online schedulers, online search ads and online intake forms—have 51% more client leads and 52% more revenue.

How will artificial intelligence (AI) affect the legal profession?

A 2023 Goldman Sachs study found that 44% of work tasks performed in the legal industry could be automated by AI. Even more striking, AI has the potential to replace 40% of legal industry jobs.

Clio’s 2024 Legal Trends Report found that 74% percent of billable work that’s billed by the hour could be automated by generative AI. The areas with the highest automation potential include documentation, data collection, and analysis—tasks that make up around 66% of the typical law firm’s hourly work.

How many law firms are using AI?

When we asked in 2023, 19% of firms were using the technology in their practice. Fast forward to our 2024 Legal Trends Report, and that number has skyrocketed to a whopping 79% of legal professionals now using AI in some capacity in their practice. Of that group, 25% have adopted legal AI widely or universally.

Do clients want to work with firms that use AI?

Nearly half of clients would prefer to work with law firms that use AI, believing it helps offer better, more efficient legal services.

Is AI usage expected to increase?

The 2024 Legal Trends Report shows that 84% of law firms believe AI usage will increase in the next 12 months.

For the latest law firm statistics, be sure to download the latest Legal Trends Report, so your firm can be set up for success long-term.

Do lawyers use statistics?

All lawyers can benefit from reviewing certain statistics. Statistical data can help lawyers forecast and prepare for the future. Specifically, marketing and business statistics can complement your firm’s growth strategy by helping provide a fuller picture of the legal landscape.

We published this blog post in December 2020. Last updated: January 10, 2025.

Categorized in: Business, Technology