LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS Forum

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Anonymous User
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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:52 pm

Location: SF Bay Area / Boston
Position: in-house for tech / biotech, previously in biglaw
Experience: 7 years (in house for 3 years)
Salary: (now) I currently make in the high 200s total comp (base + bonus). Being recruited for positions in the mid 300s to low 400s (usually mid 200s base + bonus and equity on top of that).
Hours: 40-60 hours a week. It could be 40 hours if I want to coast, but to keep learning and maximize promotion opportunities, I spend a lot more time thinking about work by choice.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 19, 2020 1:23 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:52 pm
Location: SF Bay Area / Boston
Position: in-house for tech / biotech, previously in biglaw
Experience: 7 years (in house for 3 years)
Salary: (now) I currently make in the high 200s total comp (base + bonus). Being recruited for positions in the mid 300s to low 400s (usually mid 200s base + bonus and equity on top of that).
Hours: 40-60 hours a week. It could be 40 hours if I want to coast, but to keep learning and maximize promotion opportunities, I spend a lot more time thinking about work by choice.
If I may ask, what was your starting comp when you went in-house? How negotiable was it? And were you in the middle of or through your fourth year in biglaw by that point?

I ask because I'm in a similar market/industry and contemplating if and when to make the jump in-house. Thanks!

jagpaw

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Posts: 48
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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by jagpaw » Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:53 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:52 pm
Location: SF Bay Area / Boston
Position: in-house for tech / biotech, previously in biglaw
Experience: 7 years (in house for 3 years)
Salary: (now) I currently make in the high 200s total comp (base + bonus). Being recruited for positions in the mid 300s to low 400s (usually mid 200s base + bonus and equity on top of that).
Hours: 40-60 hours a week. It could be 40 hours if I want to coast, but to keep learning and maximize promotion opportunities, I spend a lot more time thinking about work by choice.
Sorry, accidentally posted anonymously. I’m in a similar position and would love to ask you a few questions through PM if possible. Thank you.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:36 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 1:23 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:52 pm
Location: SF Bay Area / Boston
Position: in-house for tech / biotech, previously in biglaw
Experience: 7 years (in house for 3 years)
Salary: (now) I currently make in the high 200s total comp (base + bonus). Being recruited for positions in the mid 300s to low 400s (usually mid 200s base + bonus and equity on top of that).
Hours: 40-60 hours a week. It could be 40 hours if I want to coast, but to keep learning and maximize promotion opportunities, I spend a lot more time thinking about work by choice.
If I may ask, what was your starting comp when you went in-house? How negotiable was it? And were you in the middle of or through your fourth year in biglaw by that point?

I ask because I'm in a similar market/industry and contemplating if and when to make the jump in-house. Thanks!
I went in house towards the end of my fourth year -- so, had spent a little less than 4 full years at the firm. I started around 200K and did negotiate the original offer up, and have also been promoted / asked for raises since. I also negotiated it to be a hybrid business / legal role which was important to me. I knew it wasn't the highest $ offer I could get (for example Google's standard offer was 300K all in including bonus and equity for their junior attorney role), but I was really excited about my org specifically, loved the team and knew it would offer a lot more growth and interesting opportunities.

I think a good time to go in house is once you feel comfortable running/drafting complex matters from beginning to end at your firm. This means you have often been the lead associate handling all drafting / deal team management with minimal partner oversight and have had several experiences where you are the "go to" contact on the team for your client. A big part of your job as in-house counsel is overseeing outside counsel and handling certain matters that otherwise would have gone to outside counsel -- if you can do this fairly confidently and independently then you are well positioned to add senior-level value in-house immediately while learning the other new parts of the role.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 25, 2020 7:44 pm

jagpaw wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:53 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:52 pm
Location: SF Bay Area / Boston
Position: in-house for tech / biotech, previously in biglaw
Experience: 7 years (in house for 3 years)
Salary: (now) I currently make in the high 200s total comp (base + bonus). Being recruited for positions in the mid 300s to low 400s (usually mid 200s base + bonus and equity on top of that).
Hours: 40-60 hours a week. It could be 40 hours if I want to coast, but to keep learning and maximize promotion opportunities, I spend a lot more time thinking about work by choice.

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Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:14 am

Location: NY/DC
Position: In-house at international organization
Experience: 10 years
Salary: 170k
Other benefits: 5 wks vacation, 10% 401k employer contribution, pension plan
Hours: 9-6, mostly no evening and weekend work

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:03 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:36 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 1:23 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:52 pm
Location: SF Bay Area / Boston
Position: in-house for tech / biotech, previously in biglaw
Experience: 7 years (in house for 3 years)
Salary: (now) I currently make in the high 200s total comp (base + bonus). Being recruited for positions in the mid 300s to low 400s (usually mid 200s base + bonus and equity on top of that).
Hours: 40-60 hours a week. It could be 40 hours if I want to coast, but to keep learning and maximize promotion opportunities, I spend a lot more time thinking about work by choice.
If I may ask, what was your starting comp when you went in-house? How negotiable was it? And were you in the middle of or through your fourth year in biglaw by that point?

I ask because I'm in a similar market/industry and contemplating if and when to make the jump in-house. Thanks!
I went in house towards the end of my fourth year -- so, had spent a little less than 4 full years at the firm. I started around 200K and did negotiate the original offer up, and have also been promoted / asked for raises since. I also negotiated it to be a hybrid business / legal role which was important to me. I knew it wasn't the highest $ offer I could get (for example Google's standard offer was 300K all in including bonus and equity for their junior attorney role), but I was really excited about my org specifically, loved the team and knew it would offer a lot more growth and interesting opportunities.

I think a good time to go in house is once you feel comfortable running/drafting complex matters from beginning to end at your firm. This means you have often been the lead associate handling all drafting / deal team management with minimal partner oversight and have had several experiences where you are the "go to" contact on the team for your client. A big part of your job as in-house counsel is overseeing outside counsel and handling certain matters that otherwise would have gone to outside counsel -- if you can do this fairly confidently and independently then you are well positioned to add senior-level value in-house immediately while learning the other new parts of the role.
This is super helpful advice -- I'm not in-house but am a mid-level in biglaw and I feel like we all have an eye on going in-house around this time. When thinking about whether I was ready, that was always my metric: could I run a project start-to-finish on my own without oversight and be confident I was doing it all correctly. I'm glad to see that seems like the right way to think about it.

Can I ask what type of work you do now in-house and what you mean by hybrid legal-business position?

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:39 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:14 am
Location: NY/DC
Position: In-house at international organization
Experience: 10 years
Salary: 170k
Other benefits: 5 wks vacation, 10% 401k employer contribution, pension plan
Hours: 9-6, mostly no evening and weekend work
General in-house work, or specific practice area?

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Aug 12, 2020 2:09 pm

Location: NYC
Position: Compliance (VP Level) at a large asset manager
Experience: 6 years total; 1 at current job and 5 years prior at a large bulge bracket bank also compliance
Salary: 160k base w/ targeted 25+% bonus and perks like free lunch (when we were in the office) matching 401k, health/dental/etc
Hours: 40-50ish with occasional weekend checking of emails and fire drills but haven’t had to work an entire weekend. Very flexible in terms of working from home even pre-covid.

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Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 16, 2020 3:25 pm

Location: DC/Philly
Position: Associate at IP/patent boutique
Experience: 2016 grad
Salary: $220,000 + 401K match + ??? bonus
Hours: 1800

EE degree/patent barred but graduated from an unranked law school (with only about top 1/3ish grades). Very happy where I am now.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:58 pm

Posted this elsewhere, but this thread seems more active. I'm considering the below offer:

Media/Entertainment Company
180k base
15% bonus
5th year, V10 big law
Major Market (CA/NY)
No equity, good benefits

I'm aware that entertainment generally pays less, but does this seem too low? I've had several friends move in-house on the finance side getting substantially more.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:20 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:58 pm
Posted this elsewhere, but this thread seems more active. I'm considering the below offer:

Media/Entertainment Company
180k base
15% bonus
5th year, V10 big law
Major Market (CA/NY)
No equity, good benefits

I'm aware that entertainment generally pays less, but does this seem too low? I've had several friends move in-house on the finance side getting substantially more.
To me this seems too low, you would be making almost 50% less than what I make (also a class of 2015 grad) and you are in a more expensive market. The real question here is do you see long term upside to this move? The no equity piece would be where I push back if its public.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Sep 10, 2020 12:55 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:20 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:58 pm
Posted this elsewhere, but this thread seems more active. I'm considering the below offer:

Media/Entertainment Company
180k base
15% bonus
5th year, V10 big law
Major Market (CA/NY)
No equity, good benefits

I'm aware that entertainment generally pays less, but does this seem too low? I've had several friends move in-house on the finance side getting substantially more.
To me this seems too low, you would be making almost 50% less than what I make (also a class of 2015 grad) and you are in a more expensive market. The real question here is do you see long term upside to this move? The no equity piece would be where I push back if its public.
Yeah that's the nagging thought in my mind too. Are you in-house in entertainment?

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Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Sep 10, 2020 11:39 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 12:55 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:20 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:58 pm
Posted this elsewhere, but this thread seems more active. I'm considering the below offer:

Media/Entertainment Company
180k base
15% bonus
5th year, V10 big law
Major Market (CA/NY)
No equity, good benefits

I'm aware that entertainment generally pays less, but does this seem too low? I've had several friends move in-house on the finance side getting substantially more.
To me this seems too low, you would be making almost 50% less than what I make (also a class of 2015 grad) and you are in a more expensive market. The real question here is do you see long term upside to this move? The no equity piece would be where I push back if its public.
Yeah that's the nagging thought in my mind too. Are you in-house in entertainment?
No, I am in energy (which pays more). I get that entertainment pays less, but high COL city and making $200 all in, I would be concerned with the money nagging at you too much for taking that in-house job.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:52 pm

Location: Midwest secondary market (think: Columbus/Indy/Kansas City)
Position: 3rd year associate, AmLaw 200
Salary: $130,000
Hours: 2150

Bonus: $7,500 for every 100 hours above goal (1800 goal)

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Sep 26, 2020 4:37 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:39 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:14 am
Location: NY/DC
Position: In-house at international organization
Experience: 10 years
Salary: 170k
Other benefits: 5 wks vacation, 10% 401k employer contribution, pension plan
Hours: 9-6, mostly no evening and weekend work
General in-house work, or specific practice area?
Both are available. A fair amount of legal work at international organizations focuses on the rules and procedures of that organization in relation to that organization's day-to-day activities. Salary grids are the same across Legal regardless of specialization.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Sep 26, 2020 5:24 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Sep 26, 2020 4:37 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:39 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:14 am
Location: NY/DC
Position: In-house at international organization
Experience: 10 years
Salary: 170k
Other benefits: 5 wks vacation, 10% 401k employer contribution, pension plan
Hours: 9-6, mostly no evening and weekend work
General in-house work, or specific practice area?
Both are available. A fair amount of legal work at international organizations focuses on the rules and procedures of that organization in relation to that organization's day-to-day activities. Salary grids are the same across Legal regardless of specialization.
Is it true that when you work at an international organization, you don't need to pay income tax or you pay very low income tax?

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nixy

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by nixy » Sat Sep 26, 2020 5:28 pm

That's going to depend on whether you're working overseas. Someone working for an international organization in DC/NY is still going to have to pay federal/state income tax.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:14 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Sep 26, 2020 5:24 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Sep 26, 2020 4:37 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:39 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:14 am
Location: NY/DC
Position: In-house at international organization
Experience: 10 years
Salary: 170k
Other benefits: 5 wks vacation, 10% 401k employer contribution, pension plan
Hours: 9-6, mostly no evening and weekend work
General in-house work, or specific practice area?
Both are available. A fair amount of legal work at international organizations focuses on the rules and procedures of that organization in relation to that organization's day-to-day activities. Salary grids are the same across Legal regardless of specialization.
Is it true that when you work at an international organization, you don't need to pay income tax or you pay very low income tax?
Generally true, but depends on nationality. US citizens are typically required to pay fed and state taxes on that income, but the organization will typically pay US citizens a supplemental amount to put us on a roughly equal footing with non-US employees. The salary I listed above is on a "gross" basis to ease comparisons with other US-based employers, i.e. it includes the supplemental payments I receive to offset taxes. So my net, take home pay after taxes is about 25-30% less.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:31 pm

Size: FAANG
Experience: Class of 2014
Location: Los Angeles
Position: Corporate Counsel
Hours: ~50 hours/week, almost no weekends
Comp: ~$330,000 (comprised of (1) $225,000 base salary, (2) $40,000/yr target bonus, (3) ~$65,000/yr in vested stock units [even per-monthly vest, no cliff]).
Extra Benefits: 50% 401(k) match, gym, home office stipend ($1000/yr)

Goceltics25

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Goceltics25 » Wed Sep 30, 2020 1:06 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:31 pm
Size: FAANG
Experience: Class of 2014
Location: Los Angeles
Position: Corporate Counsel
Hours: ~50 hours/week, almost no weekends
Comp: ~$330,000 (comprised of (1) $225,000 base salary, (2) $40,000/yr target bonus, (3) ~$65,000/yr in vested stock units [even per-monthly vest, no cliff]).
Extra Benefits: 50% 401(k) match, gym, home office stipend ($1000/yr)
What was your practice field before taking this job? Were you in Biglaw prior?

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Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 30, 2020 8:16 pm

Location: NY
Position: Associate
Experience: 1 year state clerkship now just started my position
Salary: 90k
Hours: 40-50 hours a week. I was told the billable is a "soft 1800". Apparently this is the first year they've ever even had a billable and they aren't crazy about hours as long as you do your work.

techthrowaway

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Posts: 6
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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by techthrowaway » Fri Oct 02, 2020 4:04 pm

Location: SF Bay
Position: Commercial/product counsel at non-FAANG public tech company
Experience: 4 years (3 years big-law general corporate)
Salary: 175k base + 20% bonus + $40k RSUs (4 year vest, refreshed annually)
Hours: <40 hours/week

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Oct 03, 2020 4:09 pm

Goceltics25 wrote:
Wed Sep 30, 2020 1:06 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:31 pm
Size: FAANG
Experience: Class of 2014
Location: Los Angeles
Position: Corporate Counsel
Hours: ~50 hours/week, almost no weekends
Comp: ~$330,000 (comprised of (1) $225,000 base salary, (2) $40,000/yr target bonus, (3) ~$65,000/yr in vested stock units [even per-monthly vest, no cliff]).
Extra Benefits: 50% 401(k) match, gym, home office stipend ($1000/yr)
What was your practice field before taking this job? Were you in Biglaw prior?
Yeah, I did M&A and Finance at a v50 before moving in-house.

PB&J.D.

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Posts: 321
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 1:54 pm

Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by PB&J.D. » Sat Oct 03, 2020 4:34 pm

For the FAANG anon and techthrowaway, are these first (and only) offer numbers, or did you plan to negotiate? Did you get a sense of whether there’s much room to do so without competing in-house offers?

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
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