LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS Forum

[RBlackLaw]

Just went through annual comp so thought I'd add a data point here.

Class of 2013.
Legal/Compliance role at an F500. Tech.
Base: $285,000
Bonus: $100,000
Equity: Target $80,000/year vesting over 3.
Hours: 8-5, fully remote. Weekend work is exceedingly rare. Like 1-2 times a year.

Other stuff: On-site at the office once a month or so (paid for by company), international travel 3-4 times a year for projects. 4% 401(k) match. Solid cash signing bonus when I joined a few years back. Benefits are just okay, but comp overall feels really good with my hours. 5 weeks vacation and I use it all every year.

Awesome! Did you have any prior big law experience, or did you lateral from another in-house role, etc.? What kind of work do you do on the legal side and the compliance side? Is it a mix of legal and compliance?

I spent about 5 years in biglaw doing white collar work mostly, and had a previous in-house stint prior to this role. My role is a mix of compliance advising, investigations, reporting, due diligence, policy development, it kind of runs the gamut.

What type of background would lend itself best to landing in house compliance roles? Would a transactional background be better than a litigation background?

[Anonymous User]

Just went through annual comp so thought I'd add a data point here.

Class of 2013.
Legal/Compliance role at an F500. Tech.
Base: $285,000
Bonus: $100,000
Equity: Target $80,000/year vesting over 3.
Hours: 8-5, fully remote. Weekend work is exceedingly rare. Like 1-2 times a year.

Other stuff: On-site at the office once a month or so (paid for by company), international travel 3-4 times a year for projects. 4% 401(k) match. Solid cash signing bonus when I joined a few years back. Benefits are just okay, but comp overall feels really good with my hours. 5 weeks vacation and I use it all every year.

Awesome! Did you have any prior big law experience, or did you lateral from another in-house role, etc.? What kind of work do you do on the legal side and the compliance side? Is it a mix of legal and compliance?

I spent about 5 years in biglaw doing white collar work mostly, and had a previous in-house stint prior to this role. My role is a mix of compliance advising, investigations, reporting, due diligence, policy development, it kind of runs the gamut.

What type of background would lend itself best to landing in house compliance roles? Would a transactional background be better than a litigation background?

OP here. My team has a pretty broad range of backgrounds - mostly litigation but a few transactional/corporate governance backgrounds as well, and one second-career lawyer who never practiced at a firm but came from an investigations background in a prior life. For my team, at least, we handle a lot of different things that come in the door, and being a bit of a generalist and quick learner is something I value regardless of background when I'm hiring. That said, across the folks I have worked with at other companies before my own, I've found many more former litigators in these roles than former transactional lawyers, so you'd want to have a clear story about why you want to make this type of move I think.

[RBlackLaw]

Just went through annual comp so thought I'd add a data point here.

Class of 2013.
Legal/Compliance role at an F500. Tech.
Base: $285,000
Bonus: $100,000
Equity: Target $80,000/year vesting over 3.
Hours: 8-5, fully remote. Weekend work is exceedingly rare. Like 1-2 times a year.

Other stuff: On-site at the office once a month or so (paid for by company), international travel 3-4 times a year for projects. 4% 401(k) match. Solid cash signing bonus when I joined a few years back. Benefits are just okay, but comp overall feels really good with my hours. 5 weeks vacation and I use it all every year.

Awesome! Did you have any prior big law experience, or did you lateral from another in-house role, etc.? What kind of work do you do on the legal side and the compliance side? Is it a mix of legal and compliance?

I spent about 5 years in biglaw doing white collar work mostly, and had a previous in-house stint prior to this role. My role is a mix of compliance advising, investigations, reporting, due diligence, policy development, it kind of runs the gamut.

What type of background would lend itself best to landing in house compliance roles? Would a transactional background be better than a litigation background?

OP here. My team has a pretty broad range of backgrounds - mostly litigation but a few transactional/corporate governance backgrounds as well, and one second-career lawyer who never practiced at a firm but came from an investigations background in a prior life. For my team, at least, we handle a lot of different things that come in the door, and being a bit of a generalist and quick learner is something I value regardless of background when I'm hiring. That said, across the folks I have worked with at other companies before my own, I've found many more former litigators in these roles than former transactional lawyers, so you'd want to have a clear story about why you want to make this type of move I think.

Thank you so much! I have a few quick follow up questions if you don't mind.

1. Do you find that you like the actual work you're doing now more, less, or the same as when you were working at a firm?
2. Does there seem to be significant room for growth and career progression in your role? Are you happy with the trajectory your career is on?
3. Would you say your comp. and other benefits is an outlier for someone with your level of experience in compliance? Or does it seem fairly standard for your experience and the industry you're in?

[Anonymous User]

Just went through annual comp so thought I'd add a data point here.

Class of 2013.
Legal/Compliance role at an F500. Tech.
Base: $285,000
Bonus: $100,000
Equity: Target $80,000/year vesting over 3.
Hours: 8-5, fully remote. Weekend work is exceedingly rare. Like 1-2 times a year.

Other stuff: On-site at the office once a month or so (paid for by company), international travel 3-4 times a year for projects. 4% 401(k) match. Solid cash signing bonus when I joined a few years back. Benefits are just okay, but comp overall feels really good with my hours. 5 weeks vacation and I use it all every year.

Awesome! Did you have any prior big law experience, or did you lateral from another in-house role, etc.? What kind of work do you do on the legal side and the compliance side? Is it a mix of legal and compliance?

I spent about 5 years in biglaw doing white collar work mostly, and had a previous in-house stint prior to this role. My role is a mix of compliance advising, investigations, reporting, due diligence, policy development, it kind of runs the gamut.

What type of background would lend itself best to landing in house compliance roles? Would a transactional background be better than a litigation background?

OP here. My team has a pretty broad range of backgrounds - mostly litigation but a few transactional/corporate governance backgrounds as well, and one second-career lawyer who never practiced at a firm but came from an investigations background in a prior life. For my team, at least, we handle a lot of different things that come in the door, and being a bit of a generalist and quick learner is something I value regardless of background when I'm hiring. That said, across the folks I have worked with at other companies before my own, I've found many more former litigators in these roles than former transactional lawyers, so you'd want to have a clear story about why you want to make this type of move I think.

Thank you so much! I have a few quick follow up questions if you don't mind.

1. Do you find that you like the actual work you're doing now more, less, or the same as when you were working at a firm?
2. Does there seem to be significant room for growth and career progression in your role? Are you happy with the trajectory your career is on?
3. Would you say your comp. and other benefits is an outlier for someone with your level of experience in compliance? Or does it seem fairly standard for your experience and the industry you're in?

OP here -
1. Work is MUCH better. There's a lot of variation, a lot of problem solving, way less dealing with more challenging folks on the other side. Investigations are endlessly interesting. It's a great gig.
2. Lots of mobility. I'm at a company that regularly promotes and doesn't artificially prevent promotion (like limiting to folks with X years experience for certain roles). I get regular recruiter outreach for moves to other companies as CCO/Deputy CCO or similar.
3. I'm by no means top of market for folks in a similar role to me. I have friends who make more. But I'd say I'm in the top half of roles like this for the tech industry. Similar roles at non-tech companies often come with a pretty deep pay cut.

[Anonymous User]

I posted on this thread a while back but I can't find it. Update:

13 YoE
Head of Legal at Series C Company
$320k/year cash
Original equity grant was $800k/year over four years paper value
One refresher of $70k/year over four years paper value
Great health insurance, 401k match, unlimited PTO

I take ~25 days of vacation per year.

[Itwasluck]

9 YoE
Associate General Counsel for $100b market cap US public tech company - oversee a team of 15, including 2 non-lawyers. Report to GC
Base $300,000
Target cash bonus 30% of base
Stock roughly $200,000 per year assuming no increase/decrease (inclusive of tail end of new hire and several refresh grants)

All the standard benefits, nothing outrageous in either direction

Work is primarily during the workweek with a ton of flexibility around what hours I work. Almost never go on my computer during weekends, maybe a couple hours every other month at most. Week days are very packed with meetings (generally 8-10 30+ minute meetings a day)

There’s a fair amount of stress given direct visibility to C-Suite but overall it’s much more manageable than biglaw. Typical public company politics, but overall very laid back culture

[RBlackLaw]

9 YoE
Associate General Counsel for $100b market cap US public tech company - oversee a team of 15, including 2 non-lawyers. Report to GC
Base $300,000
Target cash bonus 30% of base
Stock roughly $200,000 per year assuming no increase/decrease (inclusive of tail end of new hire and several refresh grants)

All the standard benefits, nothing outrageous in either direction

Work is primarily during the workweek with a ton of flexibility around what hours I work. Almost never go on my computer during weekends, maybe a couple hours every other month at most. Week days are very packed with meetings (generally 8-10 30+ minute meetings a day)

There’s a fair amount of stress given direct visibility to C-Suite but overall it’s much more manageable than biglaw. Typical public company politics, but overall very laid back culture

Could you describe your career path leading to this position? Seems like a great gig!

[Anonymous User]

In-house, transactions, pharma/biotech sector.

Class Yr: 2018, ~6 years of big law
Signing: 100
Base: 270
Bonus: 25-35% target, can be multiplied by as much as 2x depending on company performance
Equity: 75/yr, 3-yr vesting
Other: 5% 401k match, unlimited PTO
Hours: mostly 9-6 but can approach big law hours during peak times
Location: 100% remote

[thewestlitigator]

a) what kind of legal job/firm/office they work at, and

I'm a 3rd year litigation associate. The firm has about 500 attorneys or so. Offices throughout the country. I do general liability defense and insurance defense.

b) how long they've been working there, and

I've been at this firm for about 8 months now. Previously, I was at a smaller insurance defense firm for about 1.5 years.

c) geographic area, and

The West region.

d) yearly salary

Currently $115,000 yearly salary. I'm expecting/hoping for a raise of about $10k-$15k this January when the firm does the annual evaluations.

[tlsthrowaway111]

C/O 2022

In-house at F100 Company, transactional work.

Base: 160k
Bonus: 25%
All in comp (incl 401K, HSA Match): a bit over 200k
Remote, low stress, hours 9-5.

[Anonymous User]

C/O 2022

In-house at F100 Company, transactional work.

Base: 160k
Bonus: 25%
All in comp (incl 401K, HSA Match): a bit over 200k
Remote, low stress, hours 9-5.

Nice, any Big Law exp.? What kind of transactional work, what type of Company (e.g., tech., financial services)?

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2016,
did 8 years in biglaw before going in house

base: 240
equity 100-130
bonus: 35%

[tlsthrowaway111]

C/O 2022

In-house at F100 Company, transactional work.

Base: 160k
Bonus: 25%
All in comp (incl 401K, HSA Match): a bit over 200k
Remote, low stress, hours 9-5.

Nice, any Big Law exp.? What kind of transactional work, what type of Company (e.g., tech., financial services)?

Thanks, did just under 2 years at a V10 (if that matters). Financial services, mostly just closing financing transactions (lender side) work.

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2016,
did 8 years in biglaw before going in house

base: 240
equity 100-130
bonus: 35%

What's the role/sector?

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2016,
did 8 years in biglaw before going in house

base: 240
equity 100-130
bonus: 35%

What's the role/sector?

Corporate Securities role at a public company. Niche sector which could out me.

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2021, 3 years in biglaw; in-house doing securities

185k base
25% cash bonus
all in comp with match and ESPP is ~250k

[Anonymous User]

C/O 2022

In-house at F100 Company, transactional work.

Base: 160k
Bonus: 25%
All in comp (incl 401K, HSA Match): a bit over 200k
Remote, low stress, hours 9-5.

Nice, any Big Law exp.? What kind of transactional work, what type of Company (e.g., tech., financial services)?

Thanks, did just under 2 years at a V10 (if that matters). Financial services, mostly just closing financing transactions (lender side) work.

How did you find the job? LinkedIn?

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[tlsthrowaway111]

C/O 2022

In-house at F100 Company, transactional work.

Base: 160k
Bonus: 25%
All in comp (incl 401K, HSA Match): a bit over 200k
Remote, low stress, hours 9-5.

Nice, any Big Law exp.? What kind of transactional work, what type of Company (e.g., tech., financial services)?

Thanks, did just under 2 years at a V10 (if that matters). Financial services, mostly just closing financing transactions (lender side) work.

How did you find the job? LinkedIn?

goinhouse.com but the job was posted on linkedin as well

[Anonymous User]

C/O 2022

In-house at F100 Company, transactional work.

Base: 160k
Bonus: 25%
All in comp (incl 401K, HSA Match): a bit over 200k
Remote, low stress, hours 9-5.

Nice, any Big Law exp.? What kind of transactional work, what type of Company (e.g., tech., financial services)?

Thanks, did just under 2 years at a V10 (if that matters). Financial services, mostly just closing financing transactions (lender side) work.

How did you find the job? LinkedIn?

goinhouse.com but the job was posted on linkedin as well

Seems like a sweet gig. Any equity component if public company?