The Number and Earnings of Lawyers: Some Recent Findings

The number of lawyers in a society may depend on the level of real income and on the scope of government regulation. Cross-national data and time-series data suggest that the growth in the number of lawyers in the United States during the past 50 years can be better explained by increases in real income than by increases in government regulation. Other tests also suggest that regulation is of lesser importance. The combined share of memberships in American Bar Association Sections more closely allied with government regulation has not increased over time. The share of billings by the legal service industry to firms is found to be relatively stable throughout the post-World War II period, suggesting that the scope of government regulation has not caused business firms to use the legal service industry more intensively over time than individuals have. An examination of the earnings of lawyers over time suggests that members of the legal profession experienced relative prosperity during the 1920s and early 1930s and during the 1960s and early 1970s. The length of these prosperous periods is traced to the slow adjustment in the number of places in law schools.