The remainder work as corporate counsel, for legal aid offices or for other employers. Sixty-six percent of respondents report working in a firm or other legal setting with five or fewer lawyers, while 13 percent say they work with 25 or more attorneys. Respondents reported 51 percent of their offices gross receipts in 1999 went to pay the lawyers in the office, while 19 percent went to support staff salaries, and the remaining 30 percent paid for all the other firm expenses. The survey found 71 percent of firms offer medical insurance to their lawyers and 62 percent provide paid vacations. Internet, Computer Use The poll found 85 percent of Florida firms and legal offices have Internet access, up from 76 percent in 1998.
Younger lawyers tend to use the Internet more often than their older colleagues.
Two years ago, only 36 percent of lawyers over 65 said they had used the Internet within the past three months. That also is a significant increase from the 38 percent who reported doing the same in 1998. Lawyers also are coming online in greater numbers than the nonlawyers in their firms. The survey also found that 90 percent of firms use Windows operating systems, up from 79 percent two years ago and 36 percent four years ago. The survey showed that women make up 27 percent of the Bar's membership, up one percentage point since 1998 and 15 percentage points since the economic survey was initiated in 1984.