Welcome back to Inside Track. My name is Rebekah Mintzer and I'm the In-House Editor at Law.com.

I've been at ALM for five years now and in that time I've learned that one of readers' favorite topics is compensation: Who's making how much and why. And who can blame them for being curious? Along with politics and religion, it's the type of topic you can't really talk about at work or at a social gathering. Lucky for you though, we will talk about it in this briefing…and we're naming names.

Also, a look at one GC's experiences with “double-barreled” bias and what qualities Facebook might be look for in its next legal boss.

Got questions or feedback about Inside Track? Get in touch with me at [email protected] or on Twitter at @rmintzer.

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What's Happening-

 

Who's in the $$$?

Today, the latest issue of Corporate Counsel hit the web, and it features our 2018 GC Compensation Survey. For the survey, our affiliate ALM Legal Intelligenceexamines last year's proxy filings to ID the best cash compensated GCs named on the filings for the Fortune 1000. Turns out this year, there's a new GC on top.(Drumroll please…)

Congrats to Eric Grossman, chief legal officer of Morgan Stanley, this year's pay champ. Grossman made a whopping $6,948,750—broken down that's $1 million in base salary with the rest as bonus cash. Grossman also took home $3 million in stock awards, which along with other non-cash pay, such as options, is studied, but not included in our rankings. Here are some other takeaways from this year's survey and the accompanying story, which was written by in-house reporter Caroline Spiezio:

✤ Right behind Grossman in the cash pay rankings were Laureen Seeger of American Express with $6,718,385 total cash, and Gerson Zweifach of Twenty-First Century Fox with $5,500,000.

✤ Women in the top 100 made about 95 percent of what men made. Though that may sound like a small difference, it adds up. The average woman's cash compensation on our compensation list was $1,147,793.10—more than $50,000 less than the average man's at $1,205,580.17.

✤ Overall, the finance and entertainment industries seemed to be tops for GC cash pay this year, which Caroline reported makes sense, given the number of deals in entertainment and complex regs in finance and banking. But she also pointed out that tech GCs are closing in.

✤ Grossman was a newcomer to the list of top 100 best paid, and shot straight to the top. Here the past few years' GC pay survey winners:

2017: Denise Keane, Altria Group 2015 and 2016: Alan Braverman, Disney 2013 and 2014: Brackett Denniston, General Electric 

Also from the magazine: A look at how managing partners at law firms are moving to the GC seat at major companies. While it's not exactly a trend yet, per se, there are plenty of skills and qualities that can be easily transferred from firm to law department. We talked to notables like Greg Jordan of PNC Bank, Rohan Weerasinghe of Citigroup to find out how they navigated these moves.

 

Friend Request For New GC

Last week, Colin Stretch announced that he will be leaving the top legal position at Facebook at the end of the year. In the meantime, Silicon Valley and the broader in-house community have been left wondering who will fill Stretch's shoes. In-house reporter Dan Clark asked recruiters to speculate on what kind of lawyer Facebook might tap for the job:

▶ The next GC will most likely be someone who has experience on the Hill. Seeing as Stretch testified before Congress in November, and the company has faced plenty of regulatory scrutiny lately, it'd be smart to hire someone with relationships in the federal government.

▶ Don't expect a promotion from within for the GC role. The recruiters told Dan that Facebook will most likely want someone with a fresh perspective who is not averse to change.

▶ Stretch's replacement will probably be no stranger to working on litigation,according to recruiter Mike Evers. Although many companies tend to go for a securities or M&A expert for their GC, Evers said Facebook is something of an exception. Since the Winklevoss twins, the company has been a target for lawsuits—most recently a shareholder suit over its $100 billion stock plunge last month.

Overcoming Bias In-House

Get your earbuds on. On this week's Legal Speak podcast, Law.com Careerist columnist Vivia Chen speaks with Michele Coleman Mayes, who is general counsel of the New York Public Library and former GC at Allstate and Pitney Bowes, about the “double-barreled bias” that black female attorneys like Mayes face in the industry.

Here are some of Mayes' insights (though you should really listen to the whole podcast here).

On whether it's easier to report subtle biases in the #MeToo era:

“… I am not so naive as to think that just because there's been as much publicity as there's been, you're now given a blank sheet of paper to talk about and do whatever you choose, again with no repercussions. Because too frequently, the repercussions you suffer, you will not even know about. But what I do hope is that folks are trying to figure out how to have these conversations … There are times when I think there are teachable moments and you want to be able to tell someone, 'May I take the time to let you know how I felt about that?'”

On if she ever felt like she wanted to quit the legal industry:

“I don't know if I've ever wanted to quit, but I've darn sure felt discouraged. It's almost as though when we were marching in the Women's March I'm thinking here we go again, I did this 30-something years ago. I could have just gotten out my tennis shoes and put them back on. So is it deja-vu? But the dynamic is different, the expectations are different, so even when I get discouraged, what I find gives me that extra energy is: Go find a young person. They look at the world differently, they want to tell you what they want. So thank goodness for new blood.”

Do you have a story to share about the challenges posed by bias and discrimination in the legal department? Contact us here. 

 

Don't Miss-

Wednesday, August 8. Mark your calendars, Global Leaders in Law will hold a session titled, “Managing Risk in an Age of Disruption” in Sydney. This will be followed by an August 22 discussion on “The Changing World of Global Trade” in Tokyo. GLL is an invitation-only membership group offering GCs a global platform for in-person collaboration to exchange ideas and receive advice and guidance from peers. For more information, contact Meena Heath at [email protected].

Thursday, September 13-Friday, September 14. Prominent in-house lawyers will meet to discuss disruption and the changing role of GCs at Corporate Counsel Forum Europe 2018. The conference, which is co-chaired by two prominent general counsel, Sabine Chalmers of BT and Phillip Bramwell of BAE, will take place in the U.K. at Pennyhill Park, Surrey.

Wednesday, September 26- Thursday, September 27. GCs from all over the country and beyond will gather in New York at the General Counsel Conference. Expect to hear about risk and regulation, executive leadership strategies, cybersecurity and technology and much, much more. Speakers include top-level in-house lawyers from AIG, AT&T and News Corp.

Wednesday, September 26-Thursday, September 27. Or if you'd prefer to network and learn from GCs in the hedge fund space, you might want to attend the Hedge Fund General Counsel and Compliance Officer Summit. Panels include a discussion on AI and machine learning for hedge funds as well as on discussions about corporate governance and regulatory examinations.

Thursday, October 4-Friday, October 5. Where can you find a group of high-powered female in-house legal leaders getting honest about the challenges that women face in the profession? Check out Women, Influence & Power in Law, a summit in Washington, D.C. this fall. There are sure to be plenty of educational and networking opportunities, and speakers include big time in-house leaders from Pfizer, MetLife, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and more.

 

On the Move-

Google Search “General Counsel.” On Monday, Google announced that longtime general counsel Kent Walker will be taking on a broader role at the search company as its new senior vice president of global affairs. His promotion leaves a high-profile opening at a challenging time for Google–and it'll take a lot more than just typing “GC” into the search bar for the company to find someone new.

New Look. We broke the news late last week that Abercrombie & Fitch general counsel Robert Bostrom will be changing outfits at the end of September, though it's unclear what job he'll be going shopping for next. Following his departure, Bostrom will work on a part-time basis, potentially into 2019, as a senior vice president and special counsel at Abercrombie for half of his $620,000 base salary.

Money Moves. The International Monetary Fund announced that Rhoda Weeks-Brown will become the IMF's next general counsel effective September 17. She is replacing Sean Hagan who will be retiring at the end of October. Weeks-Brown is a native of Liberia, Africa and has worked at the IMF for the past 21 years.

Double Duty. Because just one role isn't enough, Dean Holter, who was previously the GC and CFO at Christensen Global Strategies, will be doing the both jobs for the Scottish-American oil company Ziyen. The company says it's focused on achieving 100 percent energy independence for the U.S.

A Fighting Chance. Embattled pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharmaannounced a few corporate changes last week including Marc Kesselman as its new senior vice president and general counsel. Kesselman replaces Maria Bartonduring a time when the company is facing criticism over its alleged role in promoting opioid abuse and addiction.