STATISTICS

A survey conducted by the legal web site FindLaw found that only 44.4% of American adults currently have a will; 53.3% said they do not have a will, while 2.2% did not know or had no response.
- FindLaw survey, Most Americans Still Don't Have a Will, August, 2002

Nearly one out of every five Americans faced a legal issue within the last year.
- FindLaw survey, One in Five Americans Faced a Legal Issue in the Past Year, August, 2002

The top five legal issues faced by Americans during the last year are:

• Real Estate (buying/selling, property disputes, landlord-tenant disputes, etc.) at 21%
• Family Law (divorce, child custody, etc.) at 17%
• Estate Planning (wills, trust, settling of estates, etc.) at 12%
• Personal Injury at 11%
• Traffic Violations at 8%

- FindLaw survey, One in Five Americans Faced a Legal Issue in the Past Year, August, 2002

Personal injury, property damage, and wrongful death filings accounted for 77,205 cases in California alone between 2000 and 2001.
- Judicial Court of California, 2002 Court Statistics Report

1,539,111 non-business bankruptcy cases were filed in 2002, accounting for 97.6% of all 2002 bankruptcies.
- Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Record Breaking Bankruptcy Filings Reported in Calendar Year 2002, 2/14/2003.

The average hourly rate of attorneys in the state of Texas was $197 in 2000.
- State Bar of Texas Department of Research and Analysis 2001 Hourly Rate Report