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Industry · SBA lending record

SBA loans for offices of lawyers

77,155 SBA 7(a) loans since 2010. What they were for, how big, how long, and how often they went wrong.

Loans made
77,155
2010 onward
Typical loan
$120k
median approved
Typical term
10 yr
Default rate
2.2%
all industries 2.1%

Against other industries

defaulted within 7 years
Offices of Lawyers
2.2%
Full-Service Restaurants
3.2%
All Other Specialty Trade Contract
3.4%
Offices of Dentists
1.7%
Beauty Salons
2.3%
All SBA 7(a) loans
2.1%

Default rate is not a judgement on the industry. It tells you how a lender will price your risk, and how much cushion you should build in.

When borrowers got into trouble

share of failures by year
Year 1
1%
Year 2
12%
Year 3
18%
Year 4
18%
Year 5
15%
Year 6+
36%

Trouble rarely arrives in year one. It arrives when the opening cash is gone — which is an argument for borrowing more working capital, not less.

What this means for your application

A typical loan here runs $120k over 10 years. If you are asking for far more than that, expect harder questions and a longer file. If far less, check which lenders will even take it — many won't go below $150,000.

Find lenders by minimum loan → Check the numbers work →

Source SBA 7(a) FOIA, NAICS 541 Released 2026-06-30 Loans 77,155

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