The total number of lawyers in the United States has seen a steady increase over the last few years. In 2024, there were approximately **** million active lawyers. This total was slightly lower when compared to the previous year, and not much above the 2015 figure of *** million. Lawyers in the U.S. Unlike many other common law countries, the United States does not differentiate between lawyers who plead in court and those who do not. For example, in the United Kingdom the former are titled barristers and the latter solicitors. In the United States, however, terms such as lawyer and attorney can refer to either profession. Oversupply in the U.S. legal industry Despite continuous growth of the U.S. legal services market since the great recession, there is an oversupply of lawyers relative to the number of jobs. An overproduction of law graduates is one cause of this oversupply; consequently the number of law graduates shrunk in recent years. Increasing automation is another cause, with around half of law firms admitting to replacing human resources with technology in the last two years.

Number of Businesses statistics on the Law Firms industry in the US

In 2024, there were approximately 463,600 law firms in the United States. Between 2020 and 2025, the number of law firms grew by approximately 1.8 percent per year on average.

In 2023, the state with the highest number of lawyers in the United States was California, with a figure of approximately ******. In the same year, roughly ****** lawyers were employed in the state of New York.

In 2023, approximately 40 percent of lawyers in the United States were women. In 2022, the state with the highest employment in that occupation was California, followed by New York and Florida.

How has the number of lawyers in the U.S. changed over time?

Between 2007 and 2022, there was an overall increase in the number of practicing lawyers in the United States. In 2022, the number of lawyers in the United States was up almost ten percent from what it had been a decade ago. Conversely, the number of law school graduates has steadily declined since 2013. This suggests that although the demand for lawyers has continued to grow in the United States, there have been fewer graduates being produced by law schools in the country.

The U.S. legal services market

The largest segment of the U.S. legal services market in 2022 was spending on outside legal counsel. This segment contributed significantly more to the market than corporate legal departments for companies with over one billion U.S. dollars in revenue. In 2017, the United States held almost half of the global legal market.

The graph displays the number of law firms operating in the United States from 2006 to 2025. The x-axis represents the years, starting at 2006 and ending at 2025, while the y-axis shows the total number of registered law firm businesses each year. The number of firms ranges from a low of 401,100 in 2008 to a high of 463,590 in 2025. Despite minor dips in some years, such as 2008 and 2022, the overall trend shows steady growth in the legal industry over the two-decade span. The data highlights a resilient and expanding market for legal services in the U.S.

The 2014 Survey of State Attorneys General (SAG) collected information on jurisdiction, sources and circumstances of case referrals, and the participation of attorneys general offices in federal or state white-collar crime task forces in 2014. White-collar crime was defined by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) as: "any violation of law committed through non-violent means, involving lies, omissions, deceit, misrepresentation, or violation of a position of trust, by an individual or organization for personal or organizational benefit." SAG sought to analyze how attorneys general offices as an organization in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories respond to white-collar offenses in their jurisdiction. BJS asked respondents to focus on the following criminal and civil offenses: bank fraud, consumer fraud, insurance fraud, medical fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud, environmental offenses, false claims and statements, illegal payments to governmental officials (giving or receiving), unfair trade practices, and workplace-related offenses (e.g., unsafe working conditions). Variables included whether or not offices handled criminal or civil cases in the above categories, estimated number of cases in each category, and what types of criminal or civil sanctions were imposed on white-collar offenders. Researchers also assessed collaboration with partners outside of state attorneys offices, whether cases were referred for federal or local prosecution, and what circumstances lead to referring cases to state regulatory agencies. The extent to which state attorneys offices maintain white-collar crime data was also recorded.

As of 2021, the law firm with the highest number of lawyers in the United States (U.S) was Kirkland & Ellis, with *****. Latham & Waktins and Morgan, Lewis followed, with ***** and ***** lawyers employed in the United States respectively.

Number of Businesses statistics on the Immigration Lawyers & Attorneys industry in United States

Number of Businesses statistics on the Business Lawyers & Attorneys industry in United States

UniCourt provides legal data on law firms that’s been normalized by our AI and enriched with other public data sets to connect real-world law firms to their attorneys and clients, judges they’ve faced and types of litigation they’ve handled across practice areas and state and federal (PACER) courts.

AI Normalized Law Firms

• UniCourt’s AI locates and gathers variations of law firm names and spelling errors contained in court data and combines them with bar data, business data, and judge data to connect real-world law firms to their litigation. • Avoid bad data caused by frequent law firm name changes due to firm mergers, named partners leaving, and firms dissolving, leading to lost business and bad analytics. • UniCourt’s unique normalized IDs for law firms let you quickly search for and download all of the litigation involving the specific firms you’re interested in. • Uncover the associations and relationships between law firms, their lawyers, their clients, judges, and their top practice areas across different jurisdictions.

Using APIs to Dig Deeper

• See a full list of all of the businesses and individuals a law firm has represented as clients in litigation. • Easily vet the bench strength of law firms by looking at the volume and specific types of cases their lawyers have handled. • Drill down into a law firm’s experience to confirm which judges they’ve appeared before in court. • Identify which law firms and lawyers a particular firm has faced as opposing counsel, and the judgments they obtained.

Bulk Access to Law Firm Data

• UniCourt’s Law Firm Data API provides you with structured, cleaned, and organized legal data that you can easily connect to your case management systems, CRM, and other internal applications. • Get bulk access to law firm Secretary of State registration data and the names, emails, phone numbers, and physical addresses for all of a firm’s lawyers. • Use our APIs to create tailored legal marketing campaigns for law firms and their attorneys with the exact practice area expertise and the right geographic coverage you want to target. • Power your case research, business intelligence, and analytics with bulk access to litigation data for all the court cases a firm has handled and set up automated data feeds to find new cases they’re involved in.

Number of Businesses statistics on the Corporate Law Firms industry in United States

Number of Businesses statistics on the Personal Injury Lawyers & Attorneys industry in the US

This statistic shows the number of law firms in the legal services market in the United States in 2018, broken down by enterprise size. In that year, around 205 law firms in the United States had more than 500 employees.

Healthcare lawyers have struggled to remain profitable despite heavy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the complexities of the healthcare system were sidelined as the government struggled to contain the healthcare crisis and immediate aftermath. Revenue shrunk by 4.4% and 3.3% in 2021 and 2022 respectively amid a slump in healthcare expenditure and heightened inflation. Revenue is expected to fall at a CAGR of 1.4% through the end of 2024 to reach $6.9 billion, including an expected gain of 0.4% in 2024 alone. Profit is expected to have fallen to 20.6% of revenue in 2024, down from 21.3% in 2019. Recent developments have significantly increased the need for healthcare litigation expertise. The profound impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the following repercussions have prompted both governmental bodies and private enterprises to reevaluate and revise their healthcare policies. Also, the repeal of Roe v. Wade has notably escalated the need for healthcare lawyers from individual households and across various segments of society. In states where abortion bans have been implemented, residents have sought out specialized legal representation to retain their right to access abortion services either in or across state lines. Healthcare lawyers are expected to fare better in the years to come. Advancements in research, along with evolving regulations in stem cell research, genome editing and other innovative medical fields will drive the industry's growth. Revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.6% through the end of 2029 to reach $7.9 billion. Profit is expected to expand to near-pre-pandemic levels, reaching 21.1% of revenue.

Comprehensive dataset of 9,774 Civil law attorneys in United States as of July, 2025. Includes verified contact information (email, phone), geocoded addresses, customer ratings, reviews, business categories, and operational details. Perfect for market research, lead generation, competitive analysis, and business intelligence. Download a complimentary sample to evaluate data quality and completeness.

Estate lawyers and attorneys are legal practitioners that specialize in providing estate, probate, inheritance and trust law services. Over the five years to 2023, a growing senior population and overall economic growth proved beneficial to estate lawyers. The outbreak of COVID-19 also helped raise demand for industry services. As a result, revenue is estimated to have increased at a CAGR of 1.4% to $17.8 billion. In 2023, revenue is estimated to increase 1.7%. Profit, which is high in this industry, has remained stable over the past few years.As baby boomers age and eventually pass away, they will leave their estates to their beneficiaries. This shift is expected to constitute the largest generational transfer of wealth in history. The number of adults aged 65 and older has grown over the past five years, and as a result, demand for estate lawyers, attorneys and those specializing in elder law has grown. The growing senior population has also driven more estate attorneys to diversify their practices to provide elder law services. Elder law services include a wide range of legal matters that affect older people or those with disabilities, such as legal issues related to healthcare, long-term care planning, retirement, estate planning, wills, trusts, taxes and protection against elder abuse. Amid the pandemic, increased mortality has driven individuals to seek out lawyers for estate planning, estate administration, probate and power of attorney services.Revenue is anticipated to continue its growth trajectory at a CAGR of 1.2% to $18.9 billion over the five years to 2026. The industry is expected to continue to experience strong demand for services from an aging baby boomer population. Growth in per capita disposable income as the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic is also anticipated to support demand for legal services, because individuals are more likely to engage in estate planning during periods of economic growth and low unemployment. More millennials will enter peak earning years during the outlook, making them more likely to engage estate planning services.

The American Bar Association’s annual Survey on Lawyer Discipline (SOLD) reports complaints and charges regarding lawyer misconduct, the caseload per disciplinary attorney, and each state’s budget for attorney discipline. From these reports, we develop five measures of attorney discipline: 1. COMPLAINTS – the percent of attorneys in the state who receive complaints from the public. 2. CHARGED – the percent of attorneys that are charged with some form of misconduct during the year; 3. CHARGED/ COMPLAINTS – the percent of the attorneys receiving COMPLAINTS that are eventually CHARGED with malpractice; 4. BUDGET (in dollars) – the state’s annual budget for implementing attorney discipline relative to the number of attorneys; and 5. CASELOAD – the number of AD cases per state disciplinary attorney per year.

In our study "Attorney Discipline, the Quality of Legal Systems and Economic Growth within the United States" we use these measures to examine the quality of legal systems within the United States and the relation between this quality and state economic growth. The panel data set, included here, contains the values of the 5 attorney discipline measures for each state from 2000-2017. We use these data in our study.

Market Size statistics on the Bankruptcy Lawyers & Attorneys industry in United States

US law firms remain indispensable in providing the legal infrastructure for individuals and businesses despite facing a rapidly evolving industry landscape. How law practices deliver legal services is shifting rapidly, shaped by labor competition, consolidation, new market entrants and rising technology demands. Lateral hiring has increased significantly, reflecting a more competitive environment for experienced legal talent, particularly at larger firms. Consolidation continues across the industry as firms seek scale, broader capabilities and operating efficiencies. Meanwhile, alternative legal service providers and tech-driven platforms are gaining ground, offering specialized, cost-effective services that challenge traditional models. This has forced firms to rethink their approach to delivering value. Larger firms have leveraged their resources to invest in technology, client data and global reach, while midsize and boutique firms focus on specialization and personalized services. Despite the industry’s rapid pace of change since 2020, revenue has been rising, increasing at a CAGR of 2.2% over the past five years, reaching an expected $426.7 billion in 2025, when revenue will jump an estimated 2.7%. Artificial intelligence fundamentally reshapes law firms by streamlining routine and time-intensive tasks like legal research and letting lawyers focus on more complex, strategic work. This technology enhances efficiency, reduces turnaround times and improves accuracy, especially in high-volume practice areas. Law practices are transforming their service models and pricing strategies by integrating AI tools into their workflows. Despite requiring investment and oversight, AI adoption enables a shift from traditional legal delivery to more tech-enabled practices. Advances in AI also introduce new cases for firms, enhancing the industry’s role as AI companies navigate regulatory challenges that current laws don’t fully address. In 2025, law practices are operating in a more segmented industry. Strategic mergers, like the Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord merger in 2024, highlight trends toward expanding scale and geographical reach to stay competitive. Firms are moving into secondary markets to access talent and reduce costs while strengthening their expertise in high-growth areas, including AI, cybersecurity and intellectual property. Political and regulatory scrutiny poses new, novel challenges, exemplified by federal actions directed at some of the country’s largest and most influential firms. While law practices will navigate an evolving environment over the next five years, industry revenue will continue expanding, rising at a CAGR of 1.7% to reach an estimated $463.1 billion in 2030.