Base Salaries Up for In-House Lawyers

(NEW PROVIDENCE) Altman Weil, in partnership with LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, has released the 2006 Altman Weil Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey. The survey shows base salaries up across the board for U.S. in-house lawyers in 2006.

“Corporations have two tools to set in-house cash compensation— guaranteed base salary and at-risk, performance-based bonus dollars,” noted Altman Weil Principal James S. Wilber. “Each year we see a balancing act between these two components. Last year, salaries rose slightly, augmented by big bonuses. This year, we’re seeing bigger salary increases reflecting greater corporate confidence, along with a mixed bag of bonus levels which seem designed to catch up some of the more junior in-house positions that were overlooked in past years.”

“Increased mobility between law firms and law departments forces corporations to compensate more competitively in the war for talent, especially at the senior level,” remarked Barry Solomon, Esq., vice president and general manager of LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell. “As a result, corporations will reward their top law department officers first, and only later adjust compensation for junior managers and staff lawyers.”

Base Salaries Rise

Median salaries for all positions in law departments increased between 2.2% and 9.5% in 2006:

■ Chief Legal Officer (CLO) salaries were up 8%. Division General Counsel (mid-level management lawyers) took home 7.1% more.

■ Lawyers in non-management positions also saw increases, with High-Level Specialists up 9.5%,

Senior Attorneys (with eight or more years’ experience) up 8.5% and Staff Attorneys (with at least one year of experience) reporting an increase of 3.5%.

■ Recent law school graduates reported a modest 2.2% raise.

All trend comparisons are drawn from a super-group of over 200 law departments that have participated in the survey over sequential years.

Bonuses a Mixed Bag

Bonuses were up across the board for non-management positions in law departments—in some instances dramatically.

■ Senior Attorneys reported bonus increases of 14.4% while more junior Attorneys and Staff Attorneys received bonus increases of 62.5% and 71% respectively.

■ Division General Counsel bonuses went up 20.29% and Managing Attorneys 25.32%.

■ CLOs and their Deputies received bonuses that were down from the prior year.

Complete survey results are available for purchase online at www.altmanweilpubs.com.