Kerwin Associates, a legal executive search firm, has announced the release of its 2025 insights report titled “Navigating Compensation Negotiations,” which addresses equity gaps, data asymmetry, and evolving priorities among in-house legal professionals across the US.
The report addresses what trends have impacted in-house counsel’s approach to negotiating their pay and equity, how compensation conversations have shifted from backrooms to boardrooms, and where systemic issues persist within the US legal profession.
“We’re seeing a growing disconnect between legal professionals’ willingness to negotiate and their access to the information needed to do so effectively,” said Anne Kerwin Payne, Kerwin’s founder and managing partner, in the press release.
Kerwin’s report aims to help:
- in-house legal departments and professionals confidently deal with the current compensation landscape
- in-house counsel gain practical guidance for assessing equity value and structuring assertive negotiation asks
- employers more transparently and proactively navigate internal compensation and retention discussions
“This report shines a light on the equity knowledge gap, the limits of internal transparency, and what both candidates and companies can do to bridge them,” Payne said.
The press release noted that the report reflects responses from more than 300 in-house legal professionals in the US.
Research data
According to Kerwin’s press release, among the US in-house counsel surveyed:
- 96 percent have negotiated compensation at some point
- 91 percent have negotiated their base salary
- 54 percent negotiated pay in 2024 or 2025
- 44 percent relied only on information from the company when evaluating equity value
- 29 percent discussed equity value with a mentor or peer
- 27 percent negotiated on title or level, which have strong correlations with compensation
- Four percent have never negotiated compensation
Kerwin’s research revealed that equity negotiations were more than 50 percent likelier in external transitions than internal ones, with mid-level in-house legal professionals rarely negotiating equity and claiming not to comprehend its value.
Kerwin said its survey covered the gap between confidence and information, with in-house counsel rating their likelihood to negotiate at 7.8/10 and scoring their confidence in possessing enough information at 6.7/10.
According to its press release, Kerwin aims to build legal and compliance teams in high-growth and technology-driven industries.