The Daily Business Review's annual survey of the billing rates of Florida law firms.  The survey provides the hourly rates of Florida attorneys, listed by name, firm and city, with ranges for selected titles.  36 Florida firms are represented in this report.

Methodology/Sources:

The hourly billing rates in the Lawyer Compensation Survey, published by ALM’s newspaper in Miami, the Daily Business Review, were culled from a variety of sources, including attorney fee petitions filed in federal and state courts between October 2010 and September 2011. In addition, the Daily Business Review examined bills submitted to state agencies by law firms.

In some cases, the listed rates reflect what law firms reported they charge.  These listed rates do not necessarily indicate what attorneys actually were paid for their work, but show only what these lawyers and law firms sought to charge for a specific case. Rates may have increased since these disclosures were filed.  The listed rates are for bankruptcy, commercial litigation and other types of civil legal services. Rates for criminal defense attorneys were not collected.

The rates listed in these charts are not meant to be a complete survey of hourly rates for all firms and attorneys in South Florida, nor can The Daily Business Review say whether these are typical rates for the individual lawyers and firms that are listed, nor what kind of fee arrangements these lawyers and firms make. For instance, it is common in fraud cases for court-appointed receivers to work for reduced hourly rates.

The data in the main chart are organized alphabetically by law firm and by highest to lowest dollar figures for attorneys and staffers.  The chart shows rates for partners and ranges for associates and paraprofessionals.  If a partner offered more than one rate or a range, the highest rate was used.