State of the San Francisco and Los Angeles, California Legal Markets 2015 / 2016

A recent survey of 15,000 California lawyers uncovered the following statistics concerning the Los Angeles and San Francisco legal markets and the lawyers who work there:

New business growth slowed by 16 percent in Los Angeles and 26 percent in San Francisco; however, growth in Los Angeles (2.7 percent) was still lower than San Francisco (6.7 percent) in 2015;

Los Angeles has one lawyer per 23 businesses, while San Francisco has one lawyer per eight businesses;

Growth in the number of newly barred attorneys in 2015 was comparable in Los Angeles (1.6 percent) and San Francisco (1.4 percent);

The number of newly barred attorneys across all of California in 2015 was the lowest it has been in 10 years;

Hourly billing rates are slightly higher in Los Angeles (on average $302 - $410) than in San Francisco (on average $293 - $408); and

Customer satisfaction with legal services in both Los Angeles (86 percent) and San Francisco (84 percent) is slightly higher than the California average (82 percent).

Source: UpCounsel's 2016 Los Angeles Business Law Report.