All You Need to Know About the Legal Industry in Miami
With its booming population and position as a hub for international business, Miami continues to offer a significant number of legal job opportunities. The legal job market in the city reflects a diverse array of specializations, with a particularly strong demand for attorneys in real estate, healthcare, and corporate law. These sectors remain robust in the Miami area, contributing significantly to the overall growth of legal employment. The region’s expanding infrastructure projects and foreign investment have also fostered growth in real estate legal positions.
As the healthcare sector in Miami moves toward more value-based care models and prepares for the 2020 compliance deadlines for the new MACRA regulations, healthcare law attorneys are in high demand. Attorneys with experience in this field are finding abundant opportunities in Miami’s hospitals, clinics, and private practices. Alternatively, due to the large amount of money managed by foreign investors in the city, there are many opportunities for attorneys specializing in international tax law.
Immigration law is another field in which legal professionals can expect ample job opportunities, as Southeast Florida, particularly Miami, has been one of the most popular destinations for immigrants in recent decades. Immigration law offers a relatively stable alternative to the more variable job climate of the commercial real estate sector and employment-law-focused firms .
Though most areas of law do have large firms represented in the Miami legal market, the city has a surprisingly large number of small to mid-sized boutique firms specializing in diverse fields of law from labor and employment to immigration, real estate, and even entertainment. "Boutique" firms tend to focus on both specific areas of law as described above, as well as represent specific types of clients, be it exclusively individuals or corporate entities. They also tend to cater their particular expertise toward a specific industry, such as immigration for international clients or a concentration in healthcare-related issues.
Because the Miami legal market is overall relatively small, at about 15,000 total active licensed attorneys including both those who have dedicated their careers to long-term practice and more transient attorneys from out of state or abroad migrating to Miami, the effect of the current political climate on the legal job market in Miami is far-reaching. Fewer opportunities will be available to law graduates from top-tier law schools in both Miami and other locales with narrower backgrounds and employment histories. While graduating law school with a highly specialized focus may have earlier five years ago been a sure way to edge out the competition and secure a coveted position with a large firm, employers are now more likely to look for balanced resumes with general legal backgrounds. Generalization among law school applicants assures that firms are unlikely to overlook a talented associate simply because they do not possess an exact fit for the firm’s niche. This might soon change.
The Most Sought-After Legal Firms in Miami
Miami is home to a wide array of law firms, from large international firms with hundreds of attorneys to smaller firms that provide specialized services. These law firms not only offer stability and a reputation but encourage professional development and a collegial atmosphere. All considered, we can say that most law firms in Miami have delivered a solid performance in the last year, largely helped by an uptick in domestic lending, real-estate transactions, international trade and layoffs on the decline. A increasing number of firms are opting to hire, rather than fire, their workforce, which has resulted in an upsurge in job opportunities for attorneys in Miami.
Tew Cardenas is ranked as the largest law firm in South Florida, and boasts offices in Miami, Fort Myers, Orlando and Bogota, Colombia. The firm has more than 155 attorneys, which places it among the top 150 firms in the United States. Tew Cardenas specializes in complex commercial and business transactions, litigation, labor and employment, international law and regulation, intellectual property, estate planning, and patent and administrative law.
Another law firm that has almost 150 attorneys in its Miami offices is Greenberg Traurig. With offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia, Greenberg Traurig employs nearly 2,000 lawyers. The firm represents public and private corporations, partnerships, and individuals in all 50 states and over 100 countries.
Foster, Muriel, Hawthorne, Streetman, & Beckett (aka Kenn Kaplan Law) is a smaller firm that focuses its practice in real estate, corporate law, insurance and litigation, and has only a handful of attorneys. Founded in 1947 by three University of Miami School of Law graduates, the firm has no associates, and utilizes support staff attorneys when necessary.
Credentials Required for Professional Positions in the Legal Sector
The qualifications needed to secure a legal position in Miami, or anywhere, differ depending on the job. For most roles, a law degree is mandatory, as well as being a licensed member of the Florida Bar. Candidates may need to also pass a background check and drug test, and submit to fingerprinting. Having valid work authorization is necessary to be eligible for employment.
Experience is often required or preferred when applying for higher-level positions. This experience may have been acquired from a previous job or during an internship. Candidates may also need to meet additional prerequisites for specific jobs. For example, some jobs may require industry-specific certifications, while others prefer some sort of demonstrated aptitude for the position, such as credible referrals from a former employer.
As one of the few cities in the U.S. with its own judicial circuit system, it is common for judges to only hire other judges or attorneys who have extensive litigation experience. Most judges will not consider a candidate who has been out of litigation practice for more than five years because they do not have the requisite active civil trial experience. The same can also be said for attorneys who are seeking to be appointed as General Counsel for a corporation; most corporations wish to hire in-house attorneys with at least 10 years of experience in private practice litigation.
Prominent Legal Positions in Demand
Among the most sought-after legal roles in Miami include attorneys at law firms, in-house counsel positions, paralegals and legal assistants. Employment opportunities in Miami are highly competitive, however, the Miami legal industry has recognized the importance of new-age technologies, like legal research and e-discovery software. Companies who have made an investment in these technologies are seeing a return on that investment in the form of increased efficiency, productivity and profitability. In many instances, Miami-based law firms are recruiting senior attorneys who hail from the U.S. Northeast, Midwest and West Coast and have recently relocated to South Florida. Vice presidents, senior attorneys and other seasoned legal pros are in high demand and are expected to continue this year and beyond. Corporate and business law is another area where legal professionals with a years-long track record of practice are finding opportunities in Miami. Paralegals and legal assistants are also popular employment opportunities in Miami. Paralegals with firm experience and those who are well-versed in e-discovery, document review, project management and case management are especially marketable. Typically, many Miami-based paralegal job postings require candidates with minimum experience, preferably five years in office environments. Legal assistants with experience in calculating and applying child support, client billing and complaint filing procedures are also popular hires in Miami at the present time. In-house corporate counsel positions in Miami continue to expand, as do roles for loss prevention attorneys, and those in legal compliance, regulatory and governmental affairs roles. These types of less common legal employment opportunities also include general counsel and assistant attorney general roles.
Best Practices for Networking and Advancing Your Legal Career
One of the most effective strategies for building a successful career in the legal field is to engage in regular networking, which will not only help you build an influential network to improve your chances of getting legal jobs in Miami, it will also help you stay on top of industry trends, and the shifting market behaviors of other professionals and organizations, allowing you to make smarter career choices and avoid potential pitfalls.
There are many ways you can go about networking in the legal field, including:
Joining a professional association or organization in your area and attending events to widen your network.
Following the legal community through social media (such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) to learn about events in your area and network with like-minded professionals.
Reading industry blogs to learn about trending topics and individuals who have written about them.
Participating in industry-related online forums to get feedback on your ideas , and connect with legal professionals.
Working with a specialized legal recruiter who can connect you with other professionals based on your skills and specialty.
While working with a recruiter to find legal jobs in Miami can make networking easier, it’s also important to understand how you can leverage your professional relationships for career advancement.
For example, if you have a close relationship with someone in the law firm where you want a job, this could be a great opportunity to ask them for a referral or even a recommendation, which can help you stand out against other candidates applying for legal jobs in Miami.
Also, having a strong professional network can provide you with greater bargaining power when it comes to your salary. By getting early insight into what other professionals in your industry are making, and by using recommendations from other influential professionals, you can have a greater impact when negotiating salaries for your legal jobs in Miami.
Leveraging your professional relationships to your full advantage can help you land the legal jobs in Miami you’ve always wanted.
Anticipated Earnings for Professionals in the Legal Sector
The compensation for legal jobs in Miami varies widely depending on numerous factors, such as a legal professional’s level of experience, specialization, and the size of the hiring firm. Here are the typical salary ranges you can expect for various legal positions in the Miami area:
Attorneys
According to Payscale, the average annual salary for a mid-level litigation attorney at a mid-level Miami law firm with 20 to 99 employees is $120,853. The salary range for this position is $83,900 to $160,900. Salaries are even higher for attorneys at large law firms, with the annual salary for a mid-level litigation attorney at a large firm (100 or more employees) averaging $157,706. For this salary range, the low-end average is $97,100 and high-end average is $207,900.
At the other end of the experience spectrum, the average annual salary for a first-year attorney is approximately $62,000, with the range being between $34,000 and $80,000. First-year associates at a large law firm can expect to earn nearly twice that amount in the $115,000 to $124,000 range.
Paralegals
The average annual salary for paralegals with 20 years of experience or more is $76,000, with a range of $55,000 to $105,000. Paralegals with 5 to 9 years of experience earn an average of $54,000 per year, with a typical range of $39,000 to $68,000.
Average annual salaries for paralegals employed by various types of law firms in the Miami area are:
Office Clerks
Clerks working at small law firms that employ 1 to 4 staff earn an average annual salary of $31,826, with a range that sits between $25,746 and $41,648. Small firms that employ 5 to 9 staff pay office clerks an average of $38,175 per year, with a salary range of $26,788 to $50,024.
Search Tools for Finding Employment in the Legal Sector
As with any booming market, the demand for lawyers in Miami is subject to change, depending on the needs of the economy. Fortunately, the stability of legal sector in Florida means that job seekers have a variety of fruitful options for employment. In addition, many resources are available for lawyers in the Miami area. One of the most important is online job boards, which provide an extensive amount of listings . For example, sites such as SimplyHired provide hundreds of openings each day. Legal recruitment agencies, including Robert Half Legal, Legal Search Solutions, and DFA Legal Search, are also crucial in connecting lawyers and law firms in need of them. Finally, networking is always essential for lawyers, with clubs, bar associations, and alumni events integrating highly successful professionals.