Bar survey looks at law firm economics.

The median hourly rate for Florida attorneys now sits at $300, according to lawyers participating in The Florida Bar's 2018 Economics and Law Office Management Survey.

That means half of instate Florida Bar members bill at over $300 per hour, compared to only 24 percent who reported billing more than $300 an hour in the Bar's 2012 survey. Thirty-seven percent of respondents also say they will likely increase their hourly rate in 2019.

A full 85 percent of Florida lawyers answering the survey report satisfaction with their job security, and 93 percent of respondents say they are satisfied with their relationships with co-workers. Yet, when asked if they would pursue the legal profession as a career if they were making the decision again, 47 percent said "yes" --compared to 57 percent two-years ago--24 percent said "no," and 29 percent of respondents were "not sure."

Twenty-eight percent of respondents report that their profitability increased over the past two years due to a rising economy, and 33 percent expect to see an increase in business in the next two years.

Of those respondents who report having a standard hourly billing rate, 50 percent report it has increased over the past two years.

Forty percent of respondents in offices of two or more attorneys also said their firms did not have an annual performance/merit salary increase for attorneys in 2018. Forty-one percent didn't provide their support staffs with annual performance or merit salary increases in 2018, either--down from 73 percent in 2014.

Eighty-three percent of respondents report their firms pay their annual Bar fees and 68 percent pick up the tab for CLE courses.

The Bar poll is taken every other year to keep lawyers informed on what their colleagues are doing in various areas of law office management. This year's survey was completed by 682 lawyers from a random sample of 3,284 in-state members. The response rate gives a 4 percent margin of error at a 95 percent level of confidence, according to Mike J. Garcia, director of the Bar's Research, Planning, and Evaluation Department.

Compensation

Survey respondents indicated the median salary for recent law school grads with no experience in 2018 again held steady from 2014 at $50,000. Lawyers with fewer than three years of experience are averaging $65,000 a year, up $5,000 from four years ago; $75,000 for those in practice three to five years, up $5,000 from 2014.

Lawyers with six to eight years' experience are averaging...