The Top Ten Best Paying Industries for General Counsel
Want to make more cash as a general counsel? You might want to think about getting your next gig in one of these sectors.
December 11, 2017 at 11:43 AM
5 minute read
Every year, Corporate Counsel affiliate ALM Legal Intelligence releases a survey of general counsel pay, ranking the best compensated GCs in the country by their total cash compensation–a metric that incorporates salary, bonus and other non-equity pay.
For our 2017 General Counsel Compensation Survey, which covers pay information shared in 2016 proxy filings, we also took a close look at which industries are producing the biggest paychecks for in-house legal bosses. Some of the winning industries might come as a surprise, but they are definitely worth checking out for future career moves.
Here's our countdown of the top ten industries for general counsel pay:
1. Entertainment
It pays to be in show business–at least if you're a general counsel. GCs in the entertainment industry earned more than those in any other sector this year. Eleven of the top 100 GCs in our compensation rankings were in entertainment. Take Alan Braverman, The Walt Disney Company's head of legal. He was the second highest paid general counsel on our list this year, with $7 million in total cash pay.
2. Mining-Crude Oil Production
Legal leaders in the mining business struck gold this year, as did those involved in oil production. Though their payouts did not quite measure up to the level of cash made by entertainment GCs, second place isn't too shabby. Just look at Alan Crain of Baker Hughes, who made nearly $4 million for his work leading that company's legal department.
3. Chemicals
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