Median salaries for all positions in in-house law departments increased from 2.2% to 9.5% in 2006, according to the just released 2006 Altman Weil Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey. Bonuses were more mixed -- some up, even way up, and others down -- according to Altman Weil principle James Wilber:
Corporations have two tools to set in-house cash compensation – guaranteed base salary and at-risk, performance-based bonus dollars. 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.
Other findings:
- National median salary for Chief Legal Officers in 2006 is $280,000
- National median salary for Senior Attorney in 2006 is $140,000
- National median salary for a new law school graduate in 2006 is $65,000
Altman Weil also publishes a Survey of Law Firm Economics which includes information on compensation for law firm partners, associates and administrative staff.
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