General Counsel Pay Trends

General Counsel Pay Trends, an Equilar publication, examines the compensation of General Counsel disclosed in the SEC filings by Equilar 500 companies. This year's report finds that disclosed General Counsel fell 17.1% in 2025, the sharpest drop on record. The study also features a closer look at the widening pay premium for female General Counsel, the shift toward equity-based compensation, and how GC pay compares to the rest of the C-suite.

Key Findings

• 17.1% decline in disclosed Equilar 500 General Counsel from 2024 to 2025.
• 16.1% pay premium earned by women General Counsel over men in 2025.
• 8.2% narrowing of the CEO-to-GC pay ratio since 2021.
• 32.4% of General Counsel now have five years of tenure or less.