Market data
Family law in North Dakota: market data
What public records say about the market for family law in North Dakota: how much demand the courts and agencies count, how many law offices serve it, how many people need help in Spanish, and the ad rules that apply. Every number links to the record it comes from.
Demand: what courts and agencies count
Counts of filings, crashes, complaints and enforcement in the records each agency keeps. A count shows where problems were recorded, not how many people will hire a lawyer.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divorced residents | 62,212 ±1,896 people age 15+ | 2020-2024 | North Dakota state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-nd · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents divorced in the last 12 months | 4,685 ±698 people age 15+ | 2020-2024 | North Dakota state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-nd · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents with limited English (any language) | 15,078 ±1,161 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | North Dakota state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-nd · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Lawyer supply
How many law offices and lawyers the federal statistics count here.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New lawyers admitted | 117 lawyers a year | 2025 | North Dakota state | bar-pipeline v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443 record nd-bar-pipeline · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties under 1 law office per 10,000 residents | 20 counties | 2026-Q1 | North Dakota state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-38 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties with no law office | 20 counties | 2026-Q1 | North Dakota state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-38 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents living in those low-office counties | 10.4 percent of residents | 2026-Q1 | North Dakota state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-38 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Employer law firms | 294 firms | 2022 | North Dakota state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-nd-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Receipts of employer law firms | 276,173,000 US dollars | 2022 | North Dakota state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-nd-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Law offices per 10,000 residents | 4.45 per 10,000 residents | 2026-Q1 | North Dakota state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-38 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Self-employed lawyers (nonemployer firms) | 229 firms | latest Nonemployer Statistics year | North Dakota state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-38 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Private law offices | 356 establishments | 2026-Q1 | North Dakota state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-38 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Lawyers employed (wage-earning, BLS OEWS) | 1,050 jobs | May 2025 | North Dakota state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:ND:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Median annual wage of employed lawyers | 106,880 US dollars a year | May 2025 | North Dakota state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:ND:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Counties with the most demand per law office
Of the 25 counties in North Dakota with the most divorced residents, the ten with the most per private law office. Both counts are shown with their records.
| County | Demand | Law offices | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| McLean County, ND | 794 ±119 record legal-need-38055 | 1 record law-offices-38055 | 794 |
| Pembina County, ND | 580 ±103 record legal-need-38067 | 1 record law-offices-38067 | 580 |
| Stutsman County, ND | 1,983 ±305 record legal-need-38093 | 6 record law-offices-38093 | 331 |
| Morton County, ND | 2,306 ±355 record legal-need-38059 | 7 record law-offices-38059 | 329 |
| Eddy County, ND | 279 ±78 record legal-need-38027 | 1 record law-offices-38027 | 279 |
| Bowman County, ND | 265 ±62 record legal-need-38011 | 1 record law-offices-38011 | 265 |
| Nelson County, ND | 229 ±58 record legal-need-38063 | 1 record law-offices-38063 | 229 |
| Bottineau County, ND | 447 ±92 record legal-need-38009 | 2 record law-offices-38009 | 224 |
| Sioux County, ND | 411 ±67 record legal-need-38085 | 2 record law-offices-38085 | 206 |
| Williams County, ND | 3,468 ±614 record legal-need-38105 | 17 record law-offices-38105 | 204 |
Divorced residents (legal-need v1.0.0, 2020-2024) ÷ Private law offices (law-offices v1.0.0, 2026-Q1). ratio = legal-need.divorced / law-offices.qcew_estabs, rounded to 2 decimals; ranked highest first, among the 25 units with the most demand. Units with zero supply are listed apart (ratio undefined); units without a published value are listed as missing.
Spanish-language demand
People who speak Spanish and speak English less than very well, and the lawyers who speak Spanish, from the Census Bureau survey (with margins of error).
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) | not published lawyers | 2020-2024 | North Dakota state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:ND:lawyers-spanish · status U · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer | not published people per lawyer | 2020-2024 | North Dakota state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:ND:lep-per-spanish-lawyer · status U · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English (ACS) | 4,904 ±717 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | North Dakota state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:ND:spanish-lep · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English | 4,904 ±669 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | North Dakota state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-nd · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Ad rules that apply
The rules a law firm's ads in North Dakota have to meet, summarized from the official texts. The full rules, with quotes, are on the state page.
| Topic | Status | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | No filing or pre-approval. The rules let lawyers advertise through any media, subject to Rules 7.1 and 7.3, and contain no clause requiring ads to be filed or reviewed (7.2(a)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Required content | P primary source | Every ad must include the name and office address of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its contents (7.2(b)). No set disclaimer is required. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Waiting periods for contact | P primary source | The rules set no waiting period. Rule 7.3 bans live (in-person, phone, real-time) solicitation of someone known to need legal services unless a relationship exists (7.3(a)), and bars written solicitation that is unwanted, coercive or imposes a cost (7.3(b));… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Claims and results | P primary source | An ad may not be false or misleading, or likely to create an unjustified expectation about results (7.1(b)). Comparisons with other lawyers need factual substantiation (7.1(c)); comparisons based on an honor or accolade must name the comparing organization… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | A lawyer may not give anything of value for a recommendation of the lawyer's services. Exceptions: reasonable advertising costs, the usual charges of a not-for-profit lawyer referral service or legal service organization, and buying a practice under Rule 1.17… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Call recording | P primary source | Interception of a wire or oral communication is a felony, but it is a defense that the actor was a party to the communication or one of the parties had given prior consent, and the call was not intercepted to commit a crime or other unlawful harm. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Texting | P primary source | A person who receives a telephone solicitation or message (defined to include text) in violation of chapter 51-28 may sue for an injunction or recover actual damages or up to $2,000 per violation, whichever is greater. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | North Dakota: no filing or review of lawyer ads is required. official source · filing v1.2.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721409 · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | Lawyers in different firms may split a fee in proportion to the work each does, or if each assumes joint responsibility for the representation by written agreement. official source · referral v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23747113 · checked 2026-10-27 |
Prices and pay (national)
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs in legal services (seasonally adjusted) | 1,249 thousand jobs | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CES6054110001:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| CPI-U: legal services | 230 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CUUR0000SEGC01:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: offices of lawyers | 338 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU541110541110:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: family legal services | 116 index | 2020-12 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU5411105411108:2020-12 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
What is missing
Datasets linked to this practice that have no figure here, and values the source withholds. We never fill these in.
- state-courts (demand): the dataset has no records for North Dakota (it covers other places)
- ca-courts (demand): the dataset has no records for North Dakota (it covers other places)
- firm-web-census (supply): the dataset has no records for North Dakota (it covers other places)
- language (spanish): Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) (North Dakota): value withheld by the source (status U)
- language (spanish): Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer (North Dakota): value withheld by the source (status U)
Download and cite
The rows behind this page, with every dataset, version, DOI, record id and check date.
Cite as: Probative Growth, The new-lawyer pipeline by jurisdiction: bar exam pass rates and new admissions, 2025 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443); Legal deserts: law offices and lawyers per resident in every U.S. county v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430); Spanish-speaking demand vs Spanish-speaking lawyer supply, by state and metro v1.1.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758); Law firm size, solos and receipts, by state: Census SUSB 2022, Nonemployer Statistics 2024 and Economic Census 2022 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997); Law offices, jobs and pay by county, with solo-practice counts: BLS QCEW, Census CBP and Nonemployer Statistics v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415); Lawyer, paralegal and legal-staff pay by state and metro (BLS OEWS) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840); Legal need by county: who may need a lawyer, from the American Community Survey v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886); Legal-services prices and jobs, monthly (BLS CPI, PPI and CES) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854); CC BY 4.0. https://probativegrowth.com/markets/north-dakota/family-law/
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How this page is built
Each figure is copied from one record of the dataset named with it, joined to this state and practice through the open practice and place crosswalk. Nothing is estimated. Methods, inputs and limits.