How to Negotiate A Raise (In-House) Forum

[LSATWiz.com]

TLDR - Approached by management and told my package is no longer commensurate with the value I add to the company. I previously considering leaving but never expressed this. My preference would be to stay as I work well within this company but I'm not sure what's reasonable insofar as equity and pay. My predominant goal is to grow and acquire wealth without having to bust my butt.

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For background, I left big law pretty quickly and took a research position at a firm that monetizes class action settlements. I'm not supposed to disclose much more but we essentially work with large businesses in primarily antitrust cases.

When I started almost 4-5 years ago, I was one of the 3 researchers, and my job was essentially just reading court documents. I didn't plan to stay long so didn't mind the paltry $70k salary, and was "finding myself" in the legal industry. I also had an LSAT and bar tutoring business that was bringing in six-figures so I didn't make it a priority and actively applied elsewhere.

During this period, one researcher was let go and another left. I also started doing light legal work for the company, and gradually assumed the responsibilities of doing most of the contract drafting and light legal work elsewhere to reduce expenditures to outside counsel. They ​loved the work product but were pissed about me showing up crazy late and leaving early and signed me to a $130,000 contract if I prioritized the company from 9-5. I was very happy that my salary nearly doubled in 6 months while I was still learning the basics of our business model and barely trying.

That contract expired during COVID-19 right when the furloughs were all happening, and I was grateful to have a job and shocked that our corporate policy was to not layoff anyone (except 10% of the company who would've been let go anyway) as there are rough patches but we're a family. It's possible I'm naive and there were other reasons (eg: the fed loans to companies of our size who didn't furlough anyone).

The work I do is very niche and while I was good at it before, I hit a growth spurt over COVID, and began to find all the opportunities quicker than our once larger competitors and identified creative takes on class definitions that none of our competitors found sans one, which is a big law firm that has a tiny branch that does this work. Even so, I found opportunities they didn't that I can't discuss but that were very lucrative and created unchartered access for our company. It's important to note I was only one part of our company's expansion - they also improved in other areas such as sales origination and technology that have effectively turned us into a well oiled machine.

My tutoring company fell off a cliff over COVID so my income is now much less despite making the company much more money and working harder than I did before COVID. I was able to supplement my income by studying stocks and finance and now make six-figures in stocks but do not believe this is sustainable year over year, and I don't like having to risk my life savings to afford health insurance, much less have a family.

I have earned the same salary for now 3 1/2 years with slightly increasing bonuses but not a meaningful amount, and my title has also remained the same. This is important because I lack the authority to call the shots on good opportunities vs poor ones, and management doesn't really read the emails I send so I need to practically beg people to look at opportunities I find so they can be a greenlit. There's a general philosophy that "I have it covered" but because I'm not trusted to greenlight anything, if I don't hound and pester people, we risk being late to market and hurting ourselves relative to our competitors. It is degrading and frustrating. I don't think it's an attack on me and these people are all very kind and nice, but focus can be an issue.

I have expressed concerns with the CEO sporadically, and recently was told that my package and role is no longer proportional with my value, and they want to "get me more money". My question is how to run this conversation. Their perspective seems to be I was hired for a role and that is the salary for the role, but I think we both recognize that's not directly applicable if the role is to drive in all of the opportunities to the company. They seem to be configuring it as having me take on additional responsibilities in other ventures (which I know 100% will fail because of basic legal issues they don't want to understand) as long as my current work product doesn't suffer.

Quite frankly, I don't want to work harder. I like being able to essentially do my job in 2-3 hours a day, focus on investing and other ventures, and work out for a few hours a day. Unless there's a clear path to profit for the company, I don't want to do more work. I just want more money and equity.

They seem amicable to giving me a percentage interest and a raise but I'm not sure how significant it would be. One thing they are using is that even though I have brought in substantial money in forward value, it takes these settlements up to a decade to payout, but I don't think existing money vs forward money is a meaningful distinction because we have distinctions and other markets have built billion dollar companies on far more effervescent valuations (which I raised).

I have a strict noncompete and the other companies in this space are very sketchy sans a big law firm that seems to consist of one partner and one associate who work in this space to pad their billable hours. I am confident I could start a successful business in this space but also know that would be going to war with people I do not dislike. My ambition is to stay but I'm just not sure how to properly negotiate a specific figure.

I have been told by contacts that big law firms and companies are throwing stupid money at lawyers right now, which has made me kind of angry about my current situation. At the same time, transitioning to another employer in this space won't be easy and I'm positive I'd be sued for violating my noncompete. I also like this work and have developed an expertise in this space that I'd be shocked if more than a few dozen attorneys have - although many, many lawyers would be able to acquire it over time. I'm also not a perfect employee - I show up late, workout in the middle day, joke around a lot, have a long HR file, etc., but I'm told my work product is invaluable and am well-liked by more down to earth employees. I'd also be lying if I didn't say the general sense that this is dead-end doesn't contribute to my cavalier attitude. While I have created significant value for the company, it's entirely motivated by a sense of "if you're gonna do it, do it well" rather than by fear of being let go or being incentivized to work hard.

[LSATWiz.com]

Is pushing for a $100,000 raise too much and 2-3% equity crazy? I've been told by people outside the company this is what I should push for. My fear is if the request is too outlandish, they'll backoff.