Top GCs Earn a Median of $1.4M in Compensation

Compensation for top general counsel is increasing along with responsibility, a new survey has found.

General counsel who report directly to a CEO and were named as executive officers in their company’s most recent proxy statements earned the most, Corporate Counsel reports. According to the survey by the executive compensation firm Equilar, these lawyers earned median annual compensation of $1.4 million.

General counsel not named in proxy statements, but who still report to a CEO, earned a median of $1.2 million, according to the story. Those who didn’t report to a CEO had median compensation of $942,200.

Aaron Boyd, compensation research manager at Equilar, told Corporate Counsel that compensation is increasing. "Pay and focus on the GC role looks like it is growing because of greater responsibility," Boyd said. You've got the increase in traditional effort as companies look to protect IP and have had more M&A activity along with the legal group's required focus in other areas."

The survey is based on salaries, bonuses, stock awards and stock options reported by companies in an Equilar survey and on proxy statements by Fortune 1000 companies.