Florida Lawyers' #1 Problem: Too Many Lawyers (and Law Schools)

ABA Journal, The Most Serious Problem Facing Lawyers? Too Many Colleagues, Say About Half of Florida’s Lawyers:

The most serious problem facing the legal profession today is too many lawyers, according to about half the attorneys who responded to a Florida Bar survey last year.

Since 2000, five new law schools have opened in Florida and the number of lawyers in the state has increased from 60,900 to 96,511, the Tampa Bay Times reports. In 1980, the state had only 27,000 lawyers.

Matt Leichter, Florida Legal Sector Peaks Higher, Troughs Lower Than Country’s:

Florida’s legal sector peaked higher and troughed harder than the rest of the southeast and the country.

Although, the surveyed lawyers have a point: It’s also true, as the article points out, that the number of law schools in Florida needlessly doubled over the last 15 years or so. Unhelpfully, the article publishes law schools’ unemployment rates rather than my preference: percent employed in bar-passage-required jobs, full-time/long-term excluding law-school-funded jobs. Here’re Florida’s law schools’ 2013 results:

• Florida State – 69.6%
• University of Florida – 66.4%
• Stetson – 62.0%
• University of Miami – 60.7%
• Nova Southeastern – 60.5%
• Florida International – 59.6%
• Thomas – 47.8%
• Barry – 39.8%
• Florida A&M – 38.5%
• Ave Maria – 34.6%
• Florida Coastal – 30.8%
• Average Florida Law School – 51.8%
• Southeast BEA Region Average Law School (Excl. Fla.) – 57.3%
• Average U.S.A. Law School (Excl. P.R., Fla.) – 56.1%

In general, Florida’s law schools are doing worse than the regional and national averages.