General Counsel Pay Trends

General Counsel Pay Trends, an Equilar publication, analyzes the compensation of General Counsel (GC) disclosed in the SEC filings by 159 Equilar 500 companies for the last five fiscal years. The publication highlights trends in the compensation of General Counsel, how companies structure compensation and the breakdown of the role by tenure and gender. BarkerGilmore has provided an independent analysis and offers an inside look at the General Counsel role and what factors go into the process of attracting and compensating top legal talent.  

About the Report

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Key Findings

• Median total compensation for Equilar 500 General Counsel has increased by 24.8% since 2019 
• Performance incentives made up 34.5% of the average Equilar 500 General Counsel pay mix in 2023 
• Communication services companies have had the largest median pay packages for the last three years, with a study-high of $5.8 million in 2023 
• The most common tenure rate for the study is zero to five years, with 40.4% of Equilar 500 General Counsel falling in this range