Salaries for Florida lawyers are on the rise: use of technology continues to grow.

The typical Florida lawyer is male, 45 years old, with 16 years of experience. He works in a firm with four other lawyers, two legal assistants and two legal secretaries, spends 51 hours a week in the office (only 30 of which are billable), and earned $85,000 in 2001.

Those are among the findings of The Florida Bar's 2002 Economics and Law Office Management Survey, which also found salaries are up for Florida lawyers, and they are making greater use of technology in their practices.

The average income for Florida attorneys rose by $3,000 over the past two years, while use of the Internet also saw a rise since the Bar's last membership survey, with more than 95 of respondents reporting they'd been on-line during the last three months, up from just 30 percent six short years ago.

Florida lawyers in private practice also reported spending an average 51 hours each week in the office and billing for 30 of those hours -- numbers identical to those reported two years ago.

The median 2001 income for Bar members was $85,000, up from $82,000 per year reported two years ago, and from $75,000 in 1998.

Complete survey results may be obtained from the Bar's Research, Planning and Evaluation Department by sending in the coupon at the end of this article.

The 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 665 lawyers from a sample of 2,740. The 24-percent response rate gives a 3.5-percent margin of error, according to Bar Senior Research and Evaluation Analyst Mike Garcia.

The survey found 77 percent of Florida lawyers are in private practice, while 16 percent are government lawyers or judges. The remainder work as corporate counsel, for legal aid offices or for other employers. Sixty-five percent of respondents report working in a firm or other legal setting with five or fewer lawyers, while 13 percent say they work with 26 or more attorneys.

Salaries and Benefits

Overall, 2002 income reported in the survey ranged from zero to $4 million.

Associates fresh out of law school averaged $40,000 in 2002 -- up $5,000 from the 2000 survey -- while new law grads with some experience made $42,500. The median for lawyers with fewer than three years of experience was $50,000, compared with $55,000 for those in practice three to five years, and $71,000 for those with six to eight years' experience.

Associates with more than eight years' experience...