Building on previous research showing lawyers are flocking to in-house roles as the chances to nab top jobs improve, HBR Consulting has found that pay is rising across the board for those in corporate roles – particularly at large companies in highly regulated sectors.

The results fly in the face of research released in August showing that across the board in the US, in-house pay had tumbled.

Climbing base salaries

The latest research – reported by The Wall Street Journal – polled more than 6,000 lawyers and 5,000 non-legal staff at 146 Fortune 500-level companies. It found that the average base salary for all in-house lawyers was $183,800, an increase of 3.4 per cent from last year. Chief legal officers had an especially good year as their average base salary climbed 5 per cent to $521,000.

Pay for performance

‘We are seeing healthy increases in in-house compensation at all lawyer levels, despite the challenging economic environment,’ said Lauren Chung, senior director and survey editor at Chicago-based HBR.
Bonuses also increased -- by an average of 3.4 per cent, leading Ms Chung to suggest that legal departments are moving towards a ‘pay for performance’ model of compensation.