What the Am Law Job Market
Actually Looks Like in 2026
We looked at 926 open Am Law roles in New York and 119 in Miami side by side — practice areas, specialties, salary ranges, who’s hiring, and what actually translates. Here’s what we found.
Talk to a RecruiterOpenings
Openings
in Both Cities
Peak Demand
in Miami
in Miami
The Big Picture: Scale and Structure
Data as of 5/3/26, based on Am Law openings posted since January 1, 2026.
Before anything else, understand the size difference. NYC has 926 Am Law openings. Miami has 119. That's a roughly 8x gap. Miami's legal market is real and growing, but it's not New York. The pool is smaller, and your lateral options reflect that.
What's more surprising is how differently the two markets are structured. In New York, Corporate dominates at 31.7% of all openings. In Miami, Litigation leads at 34.5%.
The Market Inversion
Corporate is 31.7% of the NYC Am Law market (294 openings). In Miami it's 25.2%. Meanwhile Litigation — which is 20.4% of NYC — is 34.5% of Miami's entire market.
There are 45 unique firms hiring in Miami, compared to 156 in NYC. Of those, 41 firms operate in both cities — Kirkland & Ellis, DLA Piper, Greenberg Traurig, Holland & Knight, Orrick, King & Spalding, Morgan Lewis, and dozens more.
If you're already at one of these firms, an internal transfer request might be the cleanest path. At the same time, your firm’s growth strategy in Miami may not be competitive with other options. It’s worth understanding how your firm stacks up before you make a move.
Practice Area Breakdown: NYC vs. Miami
Every number below is drawn directly from active Am Law openings. This is demand, not perception.
| Practice Area | Openings | % of Market |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate | 294 | 31.7% |
| Litigation | 189 | 20.4% |
| Intellectual Property | 101 | 10.9% |
| Real Estate | 74 | 8.0% |
| Admin / Regulatory | 45 | 4.9% |
| Banking | 44 | 4.8% |
| Tax | 23 | 2.5% |
| Labor & Employment | 21 | 2.3% |
| ERISA / C&B | 20 | 2.2% |
| Bankruptcy | 19 | 2.1% |
| Info Technology | 17 | 1.8% |
| Trusts & Estates | 15 | 1.6% |
| Healthcare | 15 | 1.6% |
| Energy | 10 | 1.1% |
| Practice Area | Openings | % of Market |
|---|---|---|
| Litigation | 41 | 34.5% ↑ |
| Corporate | 30 | 25.2% |
| Real Estate | 14 | 11.8% ↑ |
| Labor & Employment | 8 | 6.7% ↑ |
| Intellectual Property | 6 | 5.0% |
| Tax | 5 | 4.2% ↑ |
| Healthcare | 4 | 3.4% ↑ |
| Info Technology | 2 | 1.7% |
| Banking | 2 | 1.7% |
| ERISA / C&B | 2 | 1.7% |
| Energy | 2 | 1.7% |
| Bankruptcy | 1 | 0.8% |
| Trusts & Estates | 1 | 0.8% |
| Insurance | 1 | 0.8% |
↑ = proportionally stronger in Miami than NYC
Top Specialties by Practice Area — Miami
What's being demanded within each Miami AmLaw practice area — the sub-specialties that drive actual hiring decisions. Based on active AmLaw openings data, 2026.
Top Specialties by Practice Area — New York
What's being demanded within each New York AmLaw practice area — the sub-specialties that drive actual hiring decisions. Based on active AmLaw openings data, 2026.
What the Specialty Data Actually Tells You
A few patterns worth understanding before reading the two markets side by side — differences that go beyond headcount and reflect how legal demand is structured differently in each city.
Practice Areas That Don’t Translate to Miami
Practice areas with real depth in NYC that are largely absent at the Am Law level in Miami. If you’re in one of these, it’s worth taking a hard look at what your options actually are before making a move.
| Practice Area | NYC Openings | NYC Share | Miami Openings | Miami Share | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intellectual Property | 101 | 10.9% | 6 | 5.0% | Thin |
| Admin / Regulatory | 45 | 4.9% | 0 | 0.0% | Not Present |
| Banking | 44 | 4.8% | 2 | 1.7% | Very Thin |
| ERISA / C&B | 20 | 2.2% | 2 | 1.7% | Thin |
| Bankruptcy / Restructuring | 19 | 2.1% | 1 | 0.8% | Very Thin |
| General Practice | 17 | 1.8% | 0 | 0.0% | Not Present |
| Trusts & Estates | 15 | 1.6% | 1 | 0.8% | Thin |
| Immigration (standalone) | 4 | 0.4% | 0 | 0.0% | Not Present |
| Environment | 3 | 0.3% | 0 | 0.0% | Not Present |
The IP Problem Is the Hardest
NYC has 101 Am Law IP openings — 10.9% of its entire market. Miami has 6. But the gap isn't just volume. NYC's IP practice is heavily concentrated in patent prosecution and patent litigation with hard STEM backgrounds (Electrical Engineering 6.1%, Patent Prosecution 6.1%, Patent Litigation 4.5%). Miami's 6 IP openings skew generalist — trademark, licensing, tech transactions. If your value proposition is STEM-credentialed patent work, this is a significant headwind with no clear Am Law solution in Miami.
Banking and Structured Finance Attorneys Face a Steeper Climb
NYC's Banking practice has 44 Am Law openings (4.8% of the market); Miami has 2. Structured finance, securitization, and lending — the core specialties of the NYC finance machine — have minimal Am Law representation in Miami. That work simply doesn't originate in South Florida at scale. Finance attorneys looking to move should realistically expect either (a) more generalist transactional work or (b) targeting the small number of firms doing LatAm-facing finance transactions.
Experience in Demand: The JD Year Sweet Spot
Both cities show a nearly identical target experience profile. The chart below shows the minimum JD year accepted per opening — revealing where active demand concentrates.
The Mid-Level Sweet Spot Is Identical in Both Markets
The JD classes of 2020–2022 — roughly 4 to 6 years of experience as of 2026 — represent the overwhelming bulk of demand in both cities. The median maximum experience ceiling in both markets sits at approximately 6 years (2020 grad). If you're in that 4–6 year window, you're exactly who both cities are looking for right now.
Compensation: Miami Pays More Than You'd Expect
One thing that catches people off guard: Miami isn’t a discount market. Compensation across current openings is right there with New York, and at the time of writing, there are 20+ firms in Miami paying on the Cravath scale (see which firms pay Cravath in Miami here). When you factor in Florida’s zero state income tax, the economics can shift pretty quickly.
860 openings with salary data
68 openings with salary data + 0% state income tax
Salary data is self-reported by firms and incomplete across the dataset — treat these as directional, not definitive.
Who's Hiring right now in Miami
45 Am Law firms currently have active openings in Miami. The 41 that operate in both cities represent your most friction-free path — an internal conversation before a full lateral search.
Greenberg Traurig: Miami's Home Market Player
GT is worth calling out separately. It's Miami-born, GT-headquartered, and has deep local market penetration that some Am Law firms — which maintain Miami as a satellite office — simply don't. For an attorney who wants to be at a firm with genuine home-market weight and a robust South Florida client base, GT is very much strategically anchored in Miami.
May be worth a quiet internal conversation before going full lateral. But before you do, it’s worth understanding how your firm compares to others in the Miami market.
8 Key Insights for Anyone Considering the Move
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Explore the Miami Market?
Have a confidential conversation about your options. We'll tell you which firms are actively hiring in your practice area, what realistic compensation looks like for your experience level, and how to time the Florida Bar alongside your search — with no pressure and no resumes sent without your approval.