Florida lawyers weigh in on the state of the profession.

While half of Florida lawyers say they Facebook, the vast majority use the social networking service only for recreational purposes and not work. They also seem to prefer Apple smartphones over Android devices for their mobile phones, while Microsoft products dominate the office setting.

Florida Bar members also think the "oversaturation of lawyers" will have the greatest impact on the profession over the next five years and said balancing family and a high level of stress and work are their top personal concerns.

Those findings were among the conclusions drawn from a study conducted by the Bar's Research, Planning and Evaluation Department.

Those surveyed also shared their opinions on the Bar's work as an advocate for the profession, lawyer advertising, and career satisfaction. The survey also provides some information on how lawyers are doing financially, although the income data collected is not as comprehensive as is gathered every other year in the Bar's Law Office Management and Economic survey. Also, 86 percent of respondents rated the Bar's continuing legal education seminars as either excellent or good.

The 2013 Membership Opinion Survey was mailed to 2,812 randomly selected Bar members and 30 percent of the surveys have been returned. Mike Garcia, director of the Bar's Research, Planning and Evaluation Department, said the results of the survey are statistically valid and the margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent at the 95-percent level of confidence.

Technology

When it comes to office purchases, Microsoft products abound, with 90 percent of respondents reporting they use a version of Microsoft Office as their primary office suite on the computer they use for legal work.

Windows Vista leads the way when asked what operating system respondents use (37 percent); followed by Windows 8 (31 percent); Windows XP (17 percent); Windows ME (7 percent); Mac OS (4 percent); Google Chrome (3 percent); and Windows 7 (1 percent).

Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) use Internet Explorer as their browser, followed by Google Chrome (16 percent) and Mozilla Firefox (15 percent).

Asked about their smartphones, 63 percent of Florida lawyers surveyed say they carry an Apple iPhone, followed by 14 percent who have an Android phone. Only 5 percent said they use a Blackberry.

The Apple iPad is the preferred tablet of Florida lawyers who use them (42 percent); followed by Android-based tablets and the Kindle Fire (5 percent each). Forty-four percent of respondents say they don't use a tablet at all.

Forty-two percent of firms provide their lawyers with a laptop; 33 percent with a smartphone; 21 percent with a mobile data plan; and 14 percent with a tablet.

Social Media

When it comes to social media, half of the respondents participate in Facebook on a personal level, while only 12 percent use...

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