Corporate Counsel Reports Compensation for Top General Counsel Continues to Increase, Despite Economic Meltdown

Corporate Counsel, the nation’s leading publication for general counsel and in-house attorneys at corporations across the country, reported today that the top in-house lawyers at the nation’s largest corporations received a modest raise last year, despite the economic crisis that engulfed their employers. The magazine’s fifteenth annual survey of the 100 best-paid chief legal officers in the U.S., published today, reveals that average salaries rose 5 percent, to $596,393, while the group’s average cash payout (salary and bonus) grew to $1.8 million, a 2.6 percent increase. But, last year’s average bonus/nonequity incentive award was up less than 1 percent, while non-cash compensation, traditionally an important component of overall earnings, dropped significantly. Complete survey results are available in the August issue of Corporate Counsel and on the Web at www.corpcounsel.com.

The top spot in the survey went to Gregory Doody, an expert in bankruptcy law whose take-home pay from the Calpine Corporation was $9.7 million, including a combined cash bonus of $9.4 million. Doody was hired in 2006 to lead the company out of bankruptcy and left in December to undertake a similar role at Charter Communications.

Company shares, historically an important component of GC compensation, plunged in 2008. The average stock award fell 18 percent, to $1.1 million, the first decline in years. The average option award, once the darling of the tech bubble years, continued its decline, dropping 7 percent, to $669,719.

“This is the first time since the dot-com bubble burst eight years ago that we saw any significant drop in stock-related compensation,” said Anthony Paonita, editor in chief of Corporate Counsel. “The nation’s GCs took a hit in the stock market, just like everyone else.”

GC bonuses generally stayed in sync with industry sector performance. Overall, the average bonus was $1.16 million, up slightly from $1.15 million in 2007. But the average for top lawyers in the struggling auto industry was much smaller, at $530,230. The average bonus for lawyers in the more profitable oil industries was almost twice that at $1 million. And despite the chaotic state of the finance industry, GCs at financial companies took home an average bonus of $2.2 million.

Even though stock options have fallen out of favor, general counsel are still getting rich by cashing them out. Despite the dismal performance of last year’s stock market, 37 general counsel made a total of $99 million by cashing in stock options, compared to 56 in the previous survey.

Corporate Counsel has ranked the nation’s 100 best-paid GCs since 1994. GCs are ranked based on publicly available cash compensation data drawn from examination of proxy statements for all Fortune 500 companies. Survey data includes cash and bonus packages, as well as the value realized on stock cash-outs. The list also provides GC equity, including restricted stock grants, option grants, and exercisable options.

The award-winning Corporate Counsel is published by Incisive Media and is available on the Web at www.corpcounsel.com.

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