Sluggish economy is a drag on lawyers' bottom lines.

The current economic climate is a drag on law firms' profitability, and a majority of Florida lawyers don't expect the economy to recover for at least another two years.

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 work are their top personal concerns.

Those findings were among the conclusions drawn from a survey 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, 89 percent of respondents rated the Bar's continuing legal education seminars as either excellent or good.

The 2011 Membership Opinion Survey was mailed to 2,847 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 95percent level of confidence.

The Economy

The survey found 42 percent of respondents say they have had a decrease of business/profitability over the past two years, while 25 percent reported their business/profitability has remained about the same. Fourteen percent say they have experienced an increase in business/profitability in the past two years. Another 19 percent report the economy does not impact their practice at all.

A higher percentage of lawyers over 50 years of age report having decreased business/profitability over the past two years than their younger colleagues. Of lawyers 50 to 65, 46 percent report having a decrease in business, and that figure rises to 55 percent for attorneys over 65 years old. Twenty-two percent of lawyers under 35 and 15 percent of lawyers ages 36 to 49 report an increase in business/profitability over the past two years.

When asked how their firms were doing compared with other businesses during the current economic downturn, they responded:

* Recovering at the same pace, 24 percent.

* Recovering at a slower pace, 18 percent.

* Not recovering at all, 14 percent

* Recovering at a faster pace, 11 percent.

* Downturn has no...