A survey of general counsel in the US by global legal recruiter Major, Lindsey & Africa found that general counsel compensation increased by almost 10 per cent (9.6 per cent). While salary increased 1.3 per cent, bonuses spiked 38 per cent over the year. The research also determined that the average general counsel compensation ranged from $403,000 to $520,000 depending on location with the north-east including New York and Boston paying the most.

Growing sphere of influence

‘These increases in compensation point directly to the GC’s growing sphere of influence, reaching beyond legal functions into other matters of business, said Mike Sachs, partner in Major, Lindsey & Africa’s In-House Practice Group. ‘Rather than simply overseeing the legal department, GCs have become an integral partner to the C-Suite. As a result, their compensation is reflecting their new roles as strategic decision makers and trusted advisors to the CEO.’

Gender gap

There remains a major disparity between the salaries of men and women, with the study revealing that male general counsel earned 6.3 per cent more as a base salary and 31 per cent more in bonuses than female colleagues. However, it is noteworthy that only women were surveyed versus 126 men.

Female and male differences

‘In some cases, female GCs may assess themselves more critically than their male counterparts assess themselves, and thus rank their performance lower on various metrics that determine their bonus,’ said Andrea Bricca, Partner in Major, Lindsey & Africa’s In-House Practice Group. ‘In other cases, we find that male GCs are more willing to work for companies with higher risks and higher rewards, such as technology startups. These factors could account for a few reasons why we’re seeing a large disparity in bonus amounts between the genders.’