The Changing Shape of America’s Lawyer Population
In broad strokes, the legal profession dates back to Ancient Greece and the orators who used their powers of persuasion and understanding of rhetoric to guide the general public and sway its opinion. What it means to be a lawyer has changed significantly since the days of Aristotle, however. For starters, most attorneys put their oratory skills to use for the benefit of others, not themselves. How many lawyers are in the U.S. in 2019? Read on to find out.
There Are More Than Last Year
At the start of 2019, there were roughly 1.34 million lawyers in the United States. This total reflects a small uptick in the nation’s attorney population, a trend that was first noted by the American Bar Association in 2018 via the organization’s annual National Lawyer Population Survey. According to the ABA, that year saw a 0.2 percent rise in the number of lawyers compared to the year before, and a 15.2 percent increase in the number of lawyers in the United States over the past 10 years.
They’re Increasingly Female
According to the National Lawyer Population Survey, the number of female attorneys is on the rise, as well. While two out of three attorneys in the United States are male, a study found a 4.5 percent increase overall in women practicing law. The survey charts race/ethnicity results as well, noting slight, but not insignificant increases in the number of Asian, African American, Hispanic, and multiracial attorneys.
They Practice Where You Think They Would
The same study by the ABA also reports that the states with the highest concentration of attorneys are the following:
- New York
- California
- Texas
- Florida
- Illinois
Given that this shortlist of lawyer-dense states overlaps almost exactly with the ranking of states by population — Illinois overtaking Pennsylvania to secure the fifth spot is the lone exception — this standing likely comes as a little surprise, but it does provide a snapshot of the current state of the union with regard to the profession. The more people there are in a community, the higher the demand for legal representation.
There Will Be (a Few) More of Them Next Year Too
Ultimately, the rise in the United States’ number of attorneys from one year to the next has been slight and, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, will continue on that subtle path until at least 2026, with an 8 percent bump in employment predicted overall between 2016 and 2026. While that may not seem like a lot, it’s an encouraging prediction, as more and more legal services are being entrusted to paralegals and the nation’s law schools continue to graduate more lawyers than there are positions in the field.