Big Payday For GC, But With A Gender Gap

The latest compensation survey from recruiter BarkerGilmore finds average annual salary for general counsel increased in 2018, with the greatest increases showing up in publicly-traded companies. Among the public companies the highest levels were found in the tech industry, where average pay for the GC was $919,000, followed by professional services. The survey also found a pronounced gender gap, with female in-house attorneys earning on average 85 percent of the males. The gender gap is most pronounced at the general counsel level, where it’s a whopping 17 percent, although this figure is markedly lower than it was in 2017. But the most dramatic pay disparity, according to the survey, is public vs private, where at the GC level the gap is 47 percent. Baker Gilmore’s research director sees increased compensation as a reflection of companies’ desire to hang on to their attorneys in “a candidate-driven market.” The specialty areas where the demand is highest, she says, are compliance and IP.