Compensation for women in general counsel roles has surpassed that of men for the third straight year, according to the “General Counsel Pay Trends” report published by executive intelligence provider Equilar.
Women made a median amount of US$3.6 million in 2024, which is 8.1 percent higher than the men’s median at US$3.4 million. Women also received a median of slightly over US$1 million in performance incentives compared to the US$957,700 median for men.
However, men received median stock awards of US$560,000 – 18.7 percent higher than what women received. Moreover, women comprised just 33.5 percent of general counsel in 2024, a decline from 2020’s 34.9 percent.
Overall, median general counsel compensation increased to US$3.4 million from US$2.8 million in 2020. Performance incentives was the dominant element in this compensation, hitting US$1,003,800 in 2024 compared to $897,000 in 2020.
Base salary ticked up by 7.9 percent from $622,400 to $671,400. In particular, general counsel operating in the utilities sector saw pay increase by 20.9 percent between 2020 and 2024 – 11.3 percent of this increase was between 2023 and 2024.
Those working in the financial services sector obtained the highest share of performance incentives and salary at 48.3 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively. Those at consumer cyclical organizations secured the biggest stock award component at 38.6 percent.
Nonetheless, the number of general counsel listed among named executive officers slipped to 161 in 2024 compared to 2020’s 166.
When tenure matters
The report also revealed that tenure was key to compensation calculations; however, staying too long with one organization could be a disadvantage to general counsel.
The general counsel with the highest median compensation at US$3.6 million recorded 11-15 years of tenure; those who logged 6-10 years made a median of US$3.2 million. Those who stayed more than 20 years were least compensated at US$2.6 million.
“General counsel who remain in a single role for decades may miss the opportunity to reset their pay through external moves, often the most effective way to drive significant increases,” said John Gilmore, BarkerGilmore’s co-founder and managing partner, in a statement. “In addition, succession planning and retirement considerations can limit growth at the top end of tenure, and some executives consciously prioritize stability and loyalty to their institution over maximizing compensation through mobility.”
Gilmore noted that organizations replacing long-tenured general counsel are often wrong-footed by the total compensation sought by external talent.
“This dynamic has elevated succession planning as a board-level priority. A parallel external search, even with a preferred internal successor, strengthens governance by benchmarking total rewards, validating role scope and surfacing specialized profiles in areas such as cybersecurity, data, AI and global regulatory strategy,” Gilmore said. “Early calibration reduces late-stage misalignment on compensation and accelerates a confident decision, whether the offer goes to an internal successor or an external finalist.”
The “General Counsel Pay Trends” report examined the compensation of general counsel from Equilar 500 companies for the past five fiscal years based on the SEC filings of these companies.