Characteristics of a Legal Career

The typical family lawyer practices as a solo or in a firm of three or fewer attorneys. There are "boutique" firms in metropolitan areas or Sun Belt cities which specialize in divorce and attract wealthy or famous clients, but most family lawyers practice in a suburban or small town firm.

While some general practitioners may still accept divorce and custody cases in non-metropolitan areas, this field of law has become so specialized that most lawyers will refer such cases to a family law practitioner. More recently, larger firms which handle corporate and general practice law have begun accepting divorce cases because clients have asked for these types of legal services and because they are potentially lucrative. The larger firm may have an entire department composed of several attorneys who practice family law and stay current on changes in this area.


There are also large firms which only handle family law. The Chicago firm of Schiller, DuCanto and Fleck, which has 23 attorneys, is the country's largest law firm devoted exclusively to divorce law.

There are firms that specialize in adoption, custody, children's rights or father's rights, juvenile law, interstate cases, in vitro fertilization, support, or just about any area of family law. There are firms which specialize in litigating contested divorce or custody cases and others which only accept cases that can be mediated. Fees can range from less than $100 an hour for a small town or suburban family lawyer to $450 or $500 an hour for the nation's top family lawyers.

Profile of the Typical Family Lawyer in 1997, the American Bar Foundation surveyed the ABA Family Law Section which has approximately 11,000 members. Of those surveyed, 65% practice solo or in a firm of three or fewer lawyers, with 41% being solo practitioners and another 24% practicing in a firm with two to three lawyers.

Slightly over a fifth of the Family Law Section members, practice in mid-sized firms. Almost 13% are in firms of 4-5 lawyers and 9.6% are in firms of 6-10 lawyers. Only 12% practice in larger firms, with about 4% in firms of 11-20 lawyers and approximately 8% in firms with more than 20 lawyers.

Family law may well be the best area of practice for finding the least amount of gender bias, speculates Lawrence Stotter of San Francisco. The 1997 survey reveals that Family Law Section members are evenly split between the sexes, the first section in the ABA to reach a near 50/50 gender mix.

Among the private practitioners who responded to the survey, 70% consider themselves specialists in family law practice and about 53% report that their firms specialize in family law. About 31% of the survey respondents report that their state certifies lawyers in family law or some similar designation. Among the 170 respondents practicing in states with such certification programs, slightly over one fourth or 25.3% are certified. This figure translates to a total of 8% of the entire pool of private practitioners who responded to the survey.

The Work Week

The median number of billable and non-billable hours per week devoted to the practice of law is 50 hours and over a fourth of the private practitioners work an average of 60 hours or more a week. In terms of how much of their total time is spent on family law matters, the respondents are fairly evenly divided. About one fifth fall into each of the five categories listed; i.e., fewer than 20 hours per week, 20-29 hours, 30-39 hours, etc.

Not surprisingly, those who identify themselves as specialists spend more time on family matters, with the median number of hours being 40 for specialists and 20 among non-specialists. About 13% of practitioners spend more than a fifth of their time on practice management tasks, according to the survey. About a quarter spend 5% or less of their practice time on practice management, almost a third spend 6-10% of their time on such tasks, and a little over a quarter spend 11-20% of their time on management. But family law is also an area of law which can allow for a greater amount of flexibility in terms of practice setting and hours. Family lawyers who choose to have a home-based practice, to limit their hours because of family responsibilities, or to have flexi-time hours are much more able to do so without a negative impact on their career than other specialists who may find themselves locked into a 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. office schedule daily.

Compensation

The 1997 survey reveals that incomes have not changed appreciably for family law practitioners since 1990. The median income range of Family Law Section members surveyed was between $60,000 and $69,999, the same as the overall median for Section members reported in a 1990 ABF survey

It may come as a surprise to some that the survey shows that over 18% of Section members make less than $30,000 a year. "Don't expect to get rich in this field," warns one family law practitioner.

Others talk about the difficulty in collecting in cases "where no one really is the winner." Some attribute stagnant income levels to the trend toward mediation, as opposed to litigation. Others say that litigation costs have simply gotten out of hand.

"Part of the reason that caseloads are somewhat reduced is that while millions unfortunately need the services, the cost of the adversarial approach is beyond the reach of most Americans," says Ronald Fox. "If you are a husband or a wife with a legitimate legal issue that you want to pursue, the minimum number of hours a lawyer is likely to devote is 100. To contest anything will cost the family at least 200 hours of lawyer time which at $150 an hour adds up to $30,000." Many attorneys point out that there are many, many hours spent on behalf of a client which are not billable.

"Unless you are in a large firm or a major city, this is not the most lucrative field for the amount of work," says Tobi Leanna Schneider of Waterville, ME. "I do not bill my clients for every frantic call, though many lawyers do. This is an area where you are helping others through troubled times. It can be very thankless sometimes and a lawyer entering this field should honestly assess these issues."

There are those in family law who do make a very good living, however. Slightly more than 30% of the Family Law Section members surveyed make $100,000 or more and almost 9% make $200,000 or more. There is a large disparity between the median income levels of the male and female respondents, which may in some small part be due to the fact that the median age for women (44) was slightly younger than for men (48). The median income reported by women was between $50,000 and $59,999 compared to a range of $80,000 to $89,999 among men. There was also a large gap between the median income reported by family law specialists ($80,000-$89,999) and non-specialists ($40,000-$49,999).

How They Get Cases

Former clients are the most predominant source of future clients, according to the Family Law Section survey More than 40% of the respondents report that over one third of their cases come from former clients. Slightly over half of those responding indicate that Yel low Pages or other advertising does not generate any clients.

Those who consider themselves specialists are significantly more likely to obtain cases from other professionals, other family lawyers, or other lawyers in general. Specialists are also more likely than non-specialists to get at least some cases through former clients, although they are less likely to get more than half of their cases from this source.

Asked to list the three most important reasons that clients are referred to them, the respondents overwhelmingly state reputation as the primary reason for referrals. Over 85% of those surveyed list reputation as the number one reason for referrals and another 10% rate it as the second or third reason for referrals.

Over 35% of the respondents name community networking as the second reason for referrals and another 21% list it as the third reason.

Bar networking is cited by approximately 28% as the second reason for referrals and an equal percentage rank it as the third reason. Specialists are more likely than non-specialists to identify reputation as the primary reason for referrals. Community networking is more important to non-specialists, while bar networking is more important for specialists.

Quality of Life

The ABF survey asks Section members how satisfied they are with their income, the kind of legal work they do, the amount of work they have, and the balance between their private life and work.

There appears to be very little dissatisfaction with the type and amount of legal work they do, while income and finding balance in their lives seems to be of more concern.

Specialists are significantly more satisfied than non-specialists with the amount of work they have and their income.
The respondents who were anything other than "very satisfied" with any of these aspects of their practice provide more detailed information on why they are dissatisfied. Income levels and excessive work volume appear to be the primary reasons for concern.

Comments from many family law practitioners reflect their general satisfaction with this field.

"It's a wonderfully satisfying area of practice," says Carroll Padgett, Jr. of Loris, SC. "You can service more people in less time in this practice than any other."

"It is important, challenging, and growing," writes Edgar Boles of Chagrin Falls, OH. "Few fields touch on so many different areas of law-contract, tax, tort, business/corporation, to name just a few."

"I think it is the best area of law," asserts Barbara Shah of Bethel Park, PA. "It gives me the opportunity to genuinely help people in need and get paid for it!"