Pay packages are growing for some of the best compensated legal department leaders in the land, according to Corporate Counsel's 2017 General Counsel Compensation Survey. It's a sign that as GCs grow in strategic importance to their companies, remuneration can grow as well. The report also revealed there's also a new compensation champion in town.

In this year's report, a female is at the No. 1 spot on the list of the 100 highest-paid general counsel. She topped the list once before, six years ago, and is the only woman to have made it to the top since ALM Legal Intelligence, a Corporate Counsel affiliate, began compiling the report in 1994.

Still, it isn't exactly evident from the rankings that this year was a win for women overall. Only one other woman appeared in the top 10. Twenty-four percent of the list this year is comprised of women. That's an increase from 19 percent a year ago, but some industry observers had expected this year's percentage to be higher.