New Incisive Media Study Reports Chief Legal Officer Compensation Rose 13 Percent in 2008; IP Remains Best-Compensated Specialty

Business Wire, Oct 16, 2008

NEW YORK -- U.S. chief legal officer total cash compensation (salaries plus bonuses) increased by more than 13 percent this year to $467,100, according to the 2008 Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey. While median salaries rose just seven percent, median bonuses grew by almost 27 percent. The study analyzes compensation data for more than 7,000 lawyers in 312 corporate law departments across the country. It was conducted by Incisive Legal Intelligence's survey group (formerly Altman Weil Publications). For further information, or to purchase a copy of the survey, visit www.lawcatalog.com.

While CLO compensation increased, however, total cash compensation for deputy chief legal officers, division general counsel and managing attorneys decreased during the same period, by 6 percent, 2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. This year's results also include the following:

* CLOs in departments with more than 25 lawyers earned $771,000 in total cash compensation, 65 percent more than the national median. In contrast, CLOs in one-lawyer departments earned $240,000, 49 percent less than the national median.

* For non-management positions, intellectual property or patents is the most lucrative specialty for senior attorneys and attorneys. Senior IP attorneys took home 40 percent more than the national median total cash compensation last year.

Approximately 44 percent of participants were in organizations with 5,000 or more employees. The largest group of participating law departments was from organizations with annual sales revenues of over $10 billion. Additional information can be obtained by contacting Debbie Davis at debbie.davis@incisivemedia.com or 1-(888) 782-7297.

Incisive Legal Intelligence (formerly ALM Research) offers the legal industry's most extensive online database of legal market intelligence, as well as syndicated survey reports, including the annual Law Firm Business Development Survey and 2007 Survey of Law Firm Billing Rates and Practices. Incisive Legal Intelligence is a division of Incisive Media, parent company to leading legal media including The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal and Legal Week.

Incisive Media is a leading global provider of specialized business news and information, in print, in person and online. The company's principal markets include commercial real estate, financial services, legal services, marketing services and risk management. Incisive Media's market-leading brands include Accountancy Age, Computing, Investment Week, Legal Week, Post, Real Estate Forum and The American Lawyer. For more information, visit www.incisivemedia.com.

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