I had occasion to check on the number of lawyers per capita. state by state. Sure enough, there are the usual suspects--Washington DC ahead of the pack (by a factor of 13!). New York Delaware, Massachusetts. California only 14th, but wait--California in a tie with Missouri.
Say again, Missouri? What is it in Missouri that requires 10.9 lawyers per capita?
Update: But see Bob Lawless comment below explaining why the number is bogus.
2 comments:
Missouri's 2009 population according to the Census is 5,987,580. (See http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29000.html). According to the ABA in 2009, there were 23,362 attorneys active and in residence in Missouri. (See http://new.abanet.org/marketresearch/PublicDocuments/2009_NATL_LAWYER_by_State.pdf).
That works out to a rate of 3.9 attorneys per thousand. The web site apparently used Martindale-Hubbell listings to create its ranking. Junk in, junk out.
Ah, that makes sense. And if MO is off by a factor of threeish, I assume all the rest of the data is, well, worthless (Calif number seemd low to me, but I haven't double checked it).
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