Sartori & Partners has new general counsel salary pages for Dallas and Los Angeles, and they make a neat pair. On paper the two look close. Dallas mid-market GC base runs about $300,000 to $400,000. Los Angeles mid-market seats cluster near a $330,000 median base and about $410,000 in total cash, right on the ACC’s national medians for a general counsel or chief legal officer (salary ranges; some figures are base salary only).
The difference is what happens next. In Dallas, 61% of the GCs, CLOs and deputies the firm interviewed said after-tax take-home and housing cost moved their last acceptance more than any $25,000 step in base. Texas has no personal income tax. In Los Angeles, 61% of GC and CLO candidates opened with cash asks 12% to 18% above what the client had authorised, usually anchored to a public-company CLO package or a Big Law partner draw.
Two lessons. Price the offer after tax, and pick the right peer group before you name a number; public-company packages are mostly equity, a different animal. We saw the take-home point in New York GC pay too. Our salaries guide tracks general counsel salary surveys for comparison, and our Dallas legal jobs page shows who is hiring.
From the Dallas page: “In Dallas in 2026, General Counsel cash commonly clears about $255,000–$550,000 all-in by company stage, with mid-market bases near $300,000–$400,000 and public-company packages lifting higher through bonus and equity.”
Read: General Counsel Salary in Dallas, Texas (2026) at Sartori & Partners