Climbing Compensation

Good news general counsel: Your companies like you. They really like you—at least if a new report on GC pay is any indication. The study from compensation researcher Equilar Inc. showed that GCs' salaries are rising at a faster rate than those of many other top executives, perhaps spurred by an increasing focus on compliance and regulatory reform.

$1.55 million Median pay for Fortune 1000 general counsel who report directly to the CEO

$1.7 million Median compensation for general counsel in the tech, media and telecom industries (the highest-paying industries)

$1.1 million Median pay for GCs at retail and consumer firms (the lowest-paying industries)

$1.3 million Median salary for female GCs, compared to roughly $1.1 million for men

12.8% Increase in GC pay in 2011, compared to 6.2 percent for CEOs and 8.9 percent for CFOs

Approaching Anniversary

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) turns 35 on Dec. 19 (although companies such as Wal-Mart and Pfizer probably won't be celebrating its birthday.) A new Deloitte survey of more than 2,100 professionals shows that most executives are planning to upgrade their anti-corruption programs next year, but notes that the vast majority of businesses are not making use of the newest technologies to help them in their quest for compliance.

55.4% Executives surveyed who plan to improve their companies' corruption prevention and detection programs next year

23.2% Respondents who believe that the cost of those programs will be their biggest challenge in 2013

6% Executives who believe that their companies effectively use data visualization and analytics to prevent corruption

48.5% Respondents who say that offering rewards to whistleblowers encourages earlier internal reporting

Sinking Spending

Last month, an HBR Consulting survey reported that businesses spent more on both in-house and outside legal counsel than they had in the preceding two year period. Unfortunately, that trend may be coming to an end, at least according to the new 2012 Chief Legal Officer report from Altman Weil. The study shows that corporate legal departments are using various tactics to cut outside counsel spend, such as negotiating for lower rates, moving more work in-house or even taking their business to less expensive law firms.

39% CLOs who said they decreased their outside counsel budget between 2011 and 2012, up from 25 percent in the period between 2010 and 2011

71% Companies that negotiated with their law firms for lower rates

47% Law departments that shifted work from law firms to in-house attorneys

41% Companies that moved some of their work to less expensive firms