What a company's lawyers do

Sources

• Occupational Outlook Handbook: Lawyers (jobs in 2025, pay in May 2025, projections 2025-35) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025
• U.S. District Courts: Judicial Business 2025 (civil filings, terminations, trials and Table 3, Civil Cases Filed, Terminated, and Pending, Fiscal Years 2021-2025) · Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2025
• Occupational Outlook Handbook: Paralegals and Legal Assistants (jobs in 2025, pay in May 2025, projections 2025-35) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025
• New York Uniform Commercial Code, Section 2-201: Formal Requirements; Statute of Frauds · New York State Senate

Every number

• 52%bls.gov ·2025 · Share of US lawyers employed in the legal services industry (law firms and other legal offices), from the Handbook's table of lawyers' largest employers.
• 11%bls.gov ·2025 · Share of US lawyers who are self-employed, from the same table.
• 8%bls.gov ·2025 · Share of US lawyers who work for local government (not schools or hospitals), from the same table.
• 7%bls.gov ·2025 · Share of US lawyers who work for state government (not schools or hospitals), from the same table.
• 5%bls.gov ·2025 · Share of US lawyers who work for the federal government, from the same table.
• 17%bls.gov ·2025 · Worked out: one hundred percent minus the five shares in the Handbook's table (52%, 11%, 8%, 7%, 5%). Everyone else, companies' own legal teams among them.
• 30,331 casesuscourts.gov ·2025 · Contract cases filed in US district courts, fiscal year 2025 (the report's table of civil cases, 'Contract Actions').
• 303,563 civil casesuscourts.gov ·2025 · All civil cases filed in US district courts, fiscal year 2025 (the report's table of civil cases).
• $159,670/yearbls.gov ·2025 · Median annual wage for lawyers, May 2025.
• 7 yearsbls.gov ·2025 · About this many years of full-time study after high school: four of college and three of law school, the Handbook says.
• $62,890/yearbls.gov ·2025 · Median annual wage for paralegals and legal assistants, May 2025. The typical entry-level education is an associate's degree.
• $500nysenate.gov · New York's Uniform Commercial Code, section 2-201: a contract for the sale of goods for this much or more generally isn't enforceable without a signed record, with exceptions.
• $400/hourexample (example number: Our example: what an outside law firm charges the brand for an hour of routine contract work. Real rates vary widely by city, firm and lawyer.) · Our example: what an outside law firm charges the brand for an hour of routine contract work. Real rates vary widely by city, firm and lawyer.
• $220,000/yearexample (example number: Our example: one more in-house lawyer's full yearly cost to the brand, pay plus benefits and taxes, a little above the median lawyer's pay of $159,670/year once those are added.) · Our example: one more in-house lawyer's full yearly cost to the brand, pay plus benefits and taxes, a little above the median lawyer's pay of $159,670/year once those are added.
• 550 hoursexample (example number: Worked out from our example: $220,000/year ÷ $400/hour.) · Worked out from our example: $220,000/year ÷ $400/hour.
• 900 hoursexample (example number: Our example: the hours of routine contract work the brand sent to outside lawyers last year.) · Our example: the hours of routine contract work the brand sent to outside lawyers last year.