Companies paid out smaller year-end bonuses in 2023, which caused cash compensation for general counsel and chief legal officers to drop for the first time since the recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa began producing its Global In-House Compensation Survey in 2012.

Major Lindsey’s 2024 report, released Wednesday, found legal executives with either the title general counsel or chief legal officer received average total cash compensation of $556,794 in 2023, down $21,652, or 3.7%, from a year earlier.