Market data
Business and commercial law in Texas: market data
What public records say about the market for business and commercial law in Texas: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: contract and insurance | 4,005 cases filed, fiscal year | FY2025 | Texas state | federal-filings-county v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628 record federal-filings-county:TX · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Federal civil filings: private contract | 432 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Eastern District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txe-priv-contract · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private intellectual property | 1,231 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Eastern District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txe-priv-ip · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: contract and insurance | 1,086 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Eastern District of Texas federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-txe-contract-insurance · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private contract | 965 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Northern District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txn-priv-contract · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private intellectual property | 314 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Northern District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txn-priv-ip · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: contract and insurance | 2,647 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Northern District of Texas federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-txn-contract-insurance · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private contract | 2,035 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Southern District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txs-priv-contract · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private intellectual property | 374 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Southern District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txs-priv-ip · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: contract and insurance | 4,635 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Southern District of Texas federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-txs-contract-insurance · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private contract | 834 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Western District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txw-priv-contract · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil filings: private intellectual property | 654 cases filed, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | Western District of Texas federal district | civil-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009 record cf-txw-priv-ip · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Federal civil cases filed: contract and insurance | 2,057 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | Western District of Texas federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-txw-contract-insurance · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
Rising or falling
The change between the last two periods each source publishes. No threshold and no smoothing.
| Measure | Before | Latest | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: contract and insurance Texas · record federal-filings-county:TX | 3,351 FY2024 | 4,005 FY2025 | rising (+19.5%) |
Lawyer supply
How many law offices and lawyers the federal statistics count here.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New lawyers admitted | 4,168 lawyers a year | 2025 | Texas state | bar-pipeline v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443 record tx-bar-pipeline · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties under 1 law office per 10,000 residents | 71 counties | 2026-Q1 | Texas state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-48 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties with no law office | 51 counties | 2026-Q1 | Texas state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-48 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents living in those low-office counties | 3.1 percent of residents | 2026-Q1 | Texas state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-48 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Employer law firms | 13,172 firms | 2022 | Texas state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-tx-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Receipts of employer law firms | 29,421,960,000 US dollars | 2022 | Texas state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-tx-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Law offices per 10,000 residents | 5.07 per 10,000 residents | 2026-Q1 | Texas state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-48 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Self-employed lawyers (nonemployer firms) | 25,541 firms | latest Nonemployer Statistics year | Texas state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-48 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Private law offices | 16,079 establishments | 2026-Q1 | Texas state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-48 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Lawyers employed (wage-earning, BLS OEWS) | 56,580 jobs | May 2025 | Texas state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:TX:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Median annual wage of employed lawyers | 154,200 US dollars a year | May 2025 | Texas state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:TX:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Counties with the most demand per law office
Of the 25 counties in Texas with the most federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: contract and insurance, the ten with the most per private law office. Both counts are shown with their records.
| County | Demand | Law offices | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson County, TX | 275 record federal-filings-county:48001 | 22 record law-offices-48001 | 12.5 |
| Houston County, TX | 21 record federal-filings-county:48225 | 9 record law-offices-48225 | 2.33 |
| Fort Bend County, TX | 140 record federal-filings-county:48157 | 220 record law-offices-48157 | 0.64 |
| Hidalgo County, TX | 211 record federal-filings-county:48215 | 344 record law-offices-48215 | 0.61 |
| Bell County, TX | 36 record federal-filings-county:48027 | 64 record law-offices-48027 | 0.56 |
| Montgomery County, TX | 108 record federal-filings-county:48339 | 237 record law-offices-48339 | 0.46 |
| Galveston County, TX | 40 record federal-filings-county:48167 | 91 record law-offices-48167 | 0.44 |
| Comal County, TX | 24 record federal-filings-county:48091 | 56 record law-offices-48091 | 0.43 |
| Harris County, TX | 1,130 record federal-filings-county:48201 | 3,178 record law-offices-48201 | 0.36 |
| Hays County, TX | 25 record federal-filings-county:48209 | 72 record law-offices-48209 | 0.35 |
Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: contract and insurance (federal-filings-county v1.0.0, FY2025) ÷ Private law offices (law-offices v1.0.0, 2026-Q1). ratio = federal-filings-county.ffc.contract-insurance / 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) | 11,205 ±1,085 lawyers | 2020-2024 | Texas state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:TX:lawyers-spanish · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer | 271 ±26.3 people per lawyer | 2020-2024 | Texas state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:TX:lep-per-spanish-lawyer · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English (ACS) | 3,034,861 ±21,917 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | Texas state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:TX:spanish-lep · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English | 3,034,861 ±21,342 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | Texas state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-tx · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Ad rules that apply
The rules a law firm's ads in Texas 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 | Unless exempt, a lawyer files each ad or solicitation communication with the State Bar's Advertising Review Committee no later than 10 days after dissemination, with a copy, an application and a fee (Rule 7.04(a)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Required content | P primary source | An ad must publish the name of a lawyer responsible for its content and identify the lawyer's primary practice location (Rule 7.02(a)). An ad that mentions contingent fees must say whether the client pays other expenses such as litigation costs (7.02(c)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Waiting periods for contact | P primary source | Under Penal Code 38.12(d), a lawyer commits an offense by sending a written communication, or making a solicitation (in person, by phone, by social media direct message or other electronic communication), to someone who has not sought the lawyer's services,… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Claims and results | P primary source | A communication may not be false or misleading or substantially likely to create unjustified expectations about results (Rule 7.01(a)). 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 pay or offer anything of value to a person not licensed to practice law for soliciting or referring prospective clients, except nominal thank-you gifts (Rule 7.03(e)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Call recording | P primary source | One-party consent: a party to a call, or a person with one party’s prior consent, may record it, unless the recording is made to commit an unlawful act (Penal Code §16.02(c)(4)). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Texting | P primary source | Since September 1, 2025, a text or image message sent to get someone to buy counts as a “telephone solicitation” (SB 140; Business and Commerce Code §302.001). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Drug and device injury ads (state statute) | P primary source | Tex. Gov't Code §§ 81.151-81.156 (Subchapter J, Deceptive Advertising Practices; S.B. 1189, 86th Leg., 2019) (effective 2019-09-01): Texas covers only television ads that promote legal services or solicit clients. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | Texas: lawyers must file their ads with a bar or court office, after the ad first runs. The standard fee is $100 per ad. 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 if the split matches the work each does, or if the lawyers assume joint responsibility for the case, and the total fee is not unconscionable or illegal. 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: business and commercial legal services | 211 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU5411105411109:2026-09 · 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.
- firm-web-census (supply): the dataset has no records for Texas (it covers other places)
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); Federal civil filings by nature of suit and district, 12-month periods since 2018 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23720009); Legal deserts: law offices and lawyers per resident in every U.S. county v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430); Federal civil cases filed, by county of the plaintiff's residence, case type and year (Federal Judicial Center) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628); How long federal civil cases take: outcomes, class actions and pro se share by district, nature of suit and year v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969); 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/texas/business-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.