Survey highlights several key findings, including that 20 percent of respondents anticipate a job change within the next year, up 4 percent from 2023.
Washington – The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Empsight International, LLC, released the “2024 Law Department Compensation Survey,” one of the largest and most comprehensive Safe Harbor Compliant compensation data sets available for in-house legal professionals.
The Law Department Compensation Survey – Self Reported Report is based on responses from 1,887 in-house legal professionals throughout the United States. This self-reported data is used to create the Executive Summary (available to everyone). The Full Self-Reported Survey Report (available for purchase) includes all jobs and covers companies of all revenue sizes enabling individual law department professionals to benchmark their own compensation and career planning.
Some key findings in the Executive Summary using the self-reported data include:
- General counsel in companies with $5 billion or more in revenue make 66 percent more (a 15.8 percent increase from last year’s data) in base salary and 144 percent more in total compensation (a 10 percent decrease compared to last year) compared to GC in companies under $1 billion in revenue. This is driven by higher base salaries and higher short-term and long-term incentives. Larger organizations often offer higher compensation to general counsel due to the increased complexity and scope of the legal issues they face.
- Twenty-five percent of respondents reported changing jobs in the last two years, down from 37 percent in 2023. However, job mobility is expected to increase, with 20 percent of respondents anticipating a job change withing the next year, up from 16 percent in 2023.
- Eighty-five percent of participants say their work arrangement supports their work-life balance either “very well” or “somewhat well”. Those working full-time in the office are least satisfied, while those working fully remote are the most satisfied.
- Certain legal specialties tend to have higher compensation across the board. This year, those practice areas were
- Antitrust
- Securities
- Government relations
- IP and patent litigation
- Licensing.
- In-house counsel with law firm experience earn 19 percent more than their counterparts without prior law firm work experience.
- The average merit increase this year was 3.8 percent (this includes zero percent increases).
“Fair and competitive compensation is critical to individuals and companies alike, and it’s important to get it right,” said Blake Garcia, Ph.D., ACC’s senior director of business intelligence. “In order to do so, accurate, comprehensive data is key and that is exactly what ACC and Empsight’s suite of reports provide. With specific job titles for numerous in-house legal professionals in similarly sized companies, industries, and geographic locations, individuals and law department leaders have everything they need to make informed compensation-related decisions.”
“Accurate and comprehensive compensation data is essential for making informed decisions in today’s competitive in-house law department landscape,” said Jeremy Feinstein, Empsight’s founder and managing director. “Our collaboration with the ACC on the Law Department Compensation Survey ensures that law department executives and in-house counsel in organizations of all sizes have access to the most reliable benchmarking data available. Whether managing a small team or overseeing a large, complex department, the survey reveals how the size of an organization impacts compensation levels, with larger organizations often offering base and total compensation. This data enables law departments to attract, retain, and reward key talent, no matter the scale of their operations.”
The Executive Summary can be viewed here. For further information or to answer any questions, please contact Dan Weber at d.weber@acc.com and visit acc.com/compensation.
About ACC: The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the premier global legal association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other organizations through information, education, networking, and advocacy. For more than 40 years, ACC has set the standard for in-house counsel and raised awareness regarding the value of the chief legal officer in the C-suite and boardroom. With more than 45,000 members employed by over 10,000 organizations and spanning 100+ nations, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel® remains the foundation for ACC’s market leadership. For more information, visit www.acc.com and follow ACC on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Empsight International, LLC is a human resource consulting firm which helps employers make better decisions about their investment in people. Empsight’s compensation surveys organizations to benchmark their critical functional areas against other relevant peers. Our surveys are seen as definitive data reference sources in markets where such information is critical to maintaining competitiveness. The surveys cover key corporate functional areas, with an emphasis on new and emerging roles. Our survey participation tools are streamlined and designed for ease of use. We rely on input and feedback from our Survey Advisory Group comprised of industry leaders to keep our surveys competitive and on-point. Our Principals and staff have significant experience in consulting on compensation, organizational and human resource issues across multiple industry sectors.
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