The gender gap remains despite an increase of women in gc roles

Since 2015 women in gc position significantly increased according to a General Counsel Pay Trends report from legal recruiting firm BarkerGilmore and data company Equilar who analyse 500 of the biggest revenue-earning companies in the United States. A trend, however, developing worldwide.

Last year, 56 women and 113 men held the role of general counsel with the median compensation for men reaching $2.8 million and the median pay for women reaching $2.5 million. Furthermore, men at the same level of women were paid 12% more in 2019.That difference in compensation can mainly be attributed to performance incentives, the survey finds.

The study also showed that the average general counsel earns more money as time passes since they earned their law degree. At companies with revenues of more than $20 billion, median general counsel compensation reached $4.6 million last year, a 2.6% increase from 2018. This also means an increasing awareness of the importance of gc role in the company.