50 solo law firm statistics that will surprise you

When a single lawyer runs their own business, they operate a solo law firm. As if being a lawyer wasn’t demanding enough, when all of the duties fall on just one person, the amount of work that has to be done can be daunting. And these solo law firm statistics back that up.

For solo law firms, the pressure is always on, and that’s why it’s important to know about any new trends and data in your industry.

We’re here to help bring you up to speed by shedding some light on some of the most surprising solo law firm statistics for 2024. A temperature check of sorts is always useful. And this can be especially true when the growth of your business is up to you and you alone. Let’s dive straight into some of the trending data and stats for solo law firms.

Solo law firm statistics

1. Around a third of all solo law firms believe that AI technology will make paralegals unnecessary in the future.
2. Around 24% of solo law firms earn between $250k to $500k per year. On the other hand, only around 16% of attorneys at large firms with more than 25 attorneys earned this much.
   
3. Around 40% of solo law firms plan to adopt AI technology in the next 6 months, which is about 10% higher than larger firms.
   
4. 8 out of 10 legal clients in a 2023 survey preferred to pay by credit/debit card.
   
5. In 2023, around 20% of small firms had significant struggles acquiring new clients.
   
6. 77% of all small law firms spend too much time on administrative tasks and struggle to spend enough time practicing law.
   
7. Around a third of all solo law firms were very confident in their marketing, which is about 10% higher than larger firms with more than 11 attorneys.
   
8. According to Clio’s 2024 Legal Trends for Solo and Small Law Firms, solo lawyers earn significantly less per hour at an average of $288 per hour compared to $345 per hour for larger firms.
   
9. Only around 14% of solo law firms have a marketing budget. On the other hand, small to medium-sized firms spend between 2% and 20% of their annual revenue on marketing.
   
10. Less than two-thirds of solo firms have a website, while 95% of larger firms have an established website.
    
11. 72% of solo attorneys that have a website do their own content creation.
    
12. According to a 2023 report by the ABA, more than half of solo firms use a desktop computer as their primary work computer, and the majority of these desktops are Windows systems, with only 16% using Mac OS.
    
13. Solo attorneys tend to use practice management software less frequently than larger firms at only 38%. That said, 92% of solo firms use PDF creation software, and 61% use remote access software.
    
14. In 2023, only 25% of solo lawyers use a traditional office as their primary workspace, which is around 10% less than pre-pandemic numbers.
    
15. Of all the lawyers who quit their jobs at larger firms in 2022, more than 30% started their own solo practice.
    
16. Solo law firms are expected to have a larger market share of the law firm market in 2024 than ever before.
    
17. Solo practices account for around 40% of all law firms. In fact, firms with fewer than 6 attorneys account for more than 75% of all firms.
    
18. Some of the most popular areas of practice for solo attorneys are bankruptcy, civil litigation, family law, estate planning, and immigration law.
    
19. 45% of solo law firms that have blogs on their website gained new clients either directly or through referrals on their blogs.
    
20. The size of a firm generally dictates how many hours per week an attorney works. In general, solo attorneys or attorneys at smaller firms work 10 to 20 hours less per week than those at large firms.
    
21. The startup costs for launching your own solo legal practice costs between $3,500 and $5,500 on average.
22. Only around 10% of solo law firms earn more than $500,000 per year; 58% of these solo lawyers specialize in personal injury law.
23. On the other hand, 28% of solo practitioners earn less than $100,000 per year. More than half of these attorneys have a general practice or practice estate or trust law.
24. According to a 2024 survey by Above the Law, 39% of law firms have experienced some sort of security breach, and 97% have invested in cybersecurity measures.
25. Nearly 6 out of 10 law firms that experienced a security breach lost confidential client data, and 44% saw a rise in cyber liability insurance premiums after the breach.
26. According to a 2023 study by Reuters, 84% of solo or small law firms want to prioritize their work-life balance and even view a good balance as a measure of success.
27. Freelancing careers are becoming more and more popular in the legal field. In fact, around 16% of all of the freelance workforce in the USA is made up of lawyers.
28. Legal industry experts expect that by 2025, nearly 90% of all law firms will be using chatbots or virtual assistants to assist with administrative tasks.
29. Cost-per-click campaigns are one of the most important marketing strategies for all law firms, including solo practices. However, these campaigns can be excessively expensive for solo firms, costing an average of $3,000 to $5,000.
    
    
30. A cyber incident response plan is crucial for recovering from cyber attacks and preventing excessive damage. Unfortunately, only 14% of solo attorneys have an incident response plan in place.
    
31. There is a significant gender gap in the legal profession. Less than 40% of the United States’ 1.3 million lawyers are women. That said, there has been a 5% increase in the proportion of female lawyers in the last decade.
    
32. Solo law firms are the most likely group to offer unbundled legal services to clients at 44%. Large firms of more than 100 attorneys are the least likely at 36%.
    
33. Solo attorneys work fewer hours than attorneys in large firms, but they spend a larger percentage of time working non-billable hours. The utilization rate for solo firms is 15% lower than for large firms.
    
34. Solo law firms also tend to have lower profit margins than small and medium-sized firms. Solo attorneys have an average profit margin of between 25% and 35%, while firms with 6 to 10 attorneys have a 10% higher profit margin on average.
    
35. Solo attorneys are more likely to work nights and weekends than lawyers in larger firms and struggle much more with time management.
    
36. After a relatively steady rise in billable hours in the past few years, small law firms and solo attorneys have seen a decrease in the number of billable hours captured.
    
37. While well over half (62%) of solo attorneys are happy with their workload, only 51% stated that they were “happy” or “very happy” with their annual revenue.
    
38. Most attorneys spend several years gaining experience in law firms before opening their own solo firm. In 2022, only around 0.5% of new law school graduates attempted to start their own solo practice, while most went to work at larger firms.
    
39. Around a quarter of all lawyers are self-employed. Most self-employed lawyers have their own solo practice, though some are partners at larger firms.
    
40. Over the next decade, the number of employed lawyers is expected to grow by 5%, with around 35,600 new lawyer jobs opening every year until 2033.
    
41. In 2023, the highest-paying US states for lawyers are Washington D.C., California, Delaware, New York, and Connecticut.
    
42. California is the US state with the highest number of attorneys, with more than 94,000, followed by New York (86,000), Florida (61,000), and Texas (46,000).
43. The median pass rate for the bar exam across all US states in 2023 was 34%. In fact, only 5 states have a pass rate of more than 50%, Utah, Alaska, Delaware, West Virginia, and Kentucky.
    
44. When looking at the broader world, Israel holds the title of having the most attorneys per capita, with nearly 700 attorneys per 100,000 people. For comparison, the United States currently has just over 400 attorneys per 100,000 people.
    
45. Solo law firms that offer payment plans to clients collect more than 70% more revenue than solo attorneys without payment plans.
    
46. Using legal practice management software can have major impacts on the mental well-being of solo attorneys. According to a recent 2024 study by LawRank, solo practitioners using this software were 62% more likely to have good relationships with their clients.
    
47. While white lawyers still dominate the legal sector, the percentage of attorneys of other races is on the rise. In 2013, 88% of all lawyers in the USA were white, compared to 79% in 2023.
    
48. While AI has taken the world by storm in recent years, the legal sector has been slower to jump on the bandwagon. In 2023, more than 70% of solo practitioners or lawyers in small firms had not used generative AI, despite being aware of its existence.
    
49. According to PracticePanther’s 2024 Small and Mid-Sized Law Firm Report, 50% of solo practitioners have increased their spending on legal practice software in the past year. Firms specializing in insurance and family law, in particular, are investing in new software at a faster pace.
    
50. Legal malpractice insurance is one of the most important expenses for firms of all sizes, including solo practitioners. While rates vary, the average malpractice premium for solo attorneys is around $2,300.

Running a solo firm is a challenge — but a rewarding one. Solo law firm statistics can help you understand your industry and what others like you face in running a firm. If you are planning to start your own solo practice, make sure to invest in proper law firm insurance that can help streamline the business side of running your firm, so you can spend more time doing what you do best — representing your clients.