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Gender pay gap still stark for in-house lawyers
There continues to be a gap in pay in corporate counsel roles, according to new research.
Jerome Doraisamy
Global recruitment firm Major, Lindsey & Africa has released its 2020 In-House Counsel Compensation Survey, which received 3,900 responses from professionals in 36 counties. The subsequent report reviewed the detailed compensation packages for a range of positions in the legal department, from chief legal officer/general counsel down to in-house counsel.
Globally, male CLOs/GC report a higher average base salary than women, with the former earning $326,000 before bonuses and/or commissions compared to a base of $307,000 globally for women before such variable pay.
When variable pay is factored in, men retain a higher average quantum of total actual cash (TAC), taking home $501,000 versus $444,000.
Interestingly, the data from MLA showed that gender disparity for CLOs/GCs around the world “comes primarily” from the bonuses rather than the base salary: the pay differential in base salary for men and women was 6 per cent, whereas the pay differential in actual paid bonuses was 13 per cent.
“In other words, the greater part of the disparity is bonus-related and not salary-related. The reason for this phenomenon is not known to us, nor are we able to speculate at this time,” MLA wrote in its report.
Elsewhere in the report, the gender pay gap within the US was clear in other positions within the legal department.
At the chief compliance officer level, men earn $401,000 compared to $389,000 for women. At the deputy or assistant GC level, men and women earn $356,000 and $329,000 respectively, and at the counsel level, men and women earn $211,000 and $192,000 respectively.
Interestingly, however, at the senior counsel/associate GC level, women bucked the trend, earning $271,000 compared to $251,000 for men.
NB: All figures quoted are in US dollars.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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