Each year, Texas Lawyer tracks financial trends in the state’s legal industry through its Salary & Billing Survey. The resulting report compiles information provided by firms of different sizes and practice areas across the state. The firms respond to questions about employees’ salaries, billing rates and billable hours.
Due to variations in firms’ data-tracking, these results are not definitive, but they do provide valuable comparative information for firm managers and employees. Not all respondents answered each question. A minimum of three responses was required for every category of averaged data. The averages reported are median averages, meaning the data was arranged in ascending order with the midpoint reported in each category. Median averages balance out survey responses that might be much higher or lower than what most of the firms reported. The numbers in the percent-change columns are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.
The 96 firms that participated in this year’s survey, which was conducted during June and July, have 3,873 lawyers in Texas. The survey results are reported by overall medians for each position and also by city and by firm size. The firms with lawyers outside of Texas provided salaries and billing rates for their Texas offices. When comparing 2014 survey results with results from previous years, firm managers should keep in mind that survey participants change from year to year.
Firms are divided into four regional categories: Austin/San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and other. For the 96 responding firms, the firms’ primary Texas locations are as follows: 10 are in Austin/San Antonio, 29 are in Dallas/Fort Worth, 30 are in Houston and 27 are in other cities. The size divisions are firms with 100-plus, 50 to 99, 30 to 49 and fewer than 30 lawyers. Of the 96 responding firms, 12 have more than 100 lawyers, 16 have 50-99 lawyers, 17 have 30-49 lawyers and 51 have fewer than 30 lawyers.
The firm’s responding to this year’s survey also provided 2013 data.
To be added to Texas Lawyer’s email survey list, contact research editor Jeanne Graham at [email protected].
