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Curious how other former Big-Law turned in-house counsel have negotiated their salary/comp at their in-house role. It's not the lock-step type comp we're used to at the firm so I'm curious what your strategy has been to maximize your compensation? Obviously each company is different and compensation in-house often is less than BigLaw on a raw dollars figure, but curious nonetheless.

The HR person will usually have a pretty clear band of comp they’re authorized to offer you. They understand it’s a negotiation, and it’s totally fair to ask whether they have wiggle room on different parts of the comp package. I’ve only been through this once, but my understanding is there’s usually a bit more room to negotiate on the equity grant, annual bonus and (especially) signing bonus than on the base salary.

Elston Gunn wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:48 pm

The HR person will usually have a pretty clear band of comp they’re authorized to offer you. They understand it’s a negotiation, and it’s totally fair to ask whether they have wiggle room on different parts of the comp package. I’ve only been through this once, but my understanding is there’s usually a bit more room to negotiate on the equity grant, annual bonus and (especially) signing bonus than on the base salary.

YMMV depending on the company. Many companies still have formal pay grades. Each grade has a range of comp. They are unlikely to bump you into the next grade, but they also probably won't offer you the top of the grade off the bat. Equity/bonus may be a fixed percentage based on the grade or may be individual.

Generally speaking, it doesn't hurt to ask for a bit more. It's unlikely that an offer would be rescinded because a candidate asked for more (as long as the candidate isn't unprofessional).