It’s that time of year again when recruiters, think tanks and other organizations start releasing in-house counsel salary data for the following year. This first release is from LHH, which has also done some analysis of the legal market to anticipate trends in the industry generally.
LHH’s guide also indicates that the legal sector may be one of the first to be impacted by the advent of AI technology and tools that will change the delivery of legal services:
“Researchers at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University concluded that legal services is the industry most exposed to AI*, and a study by Goldman Sachs revealed that 44% of legal work can be automated…Law departments and firms will invest in tech skills enhancement—according to a Wolters Kluwer report, the biggest reason for resistance to new technology in legal departments was a “lack of technology knowledge, understanding or skills” (49%), and 63% of lawyers expect their overall technology investment to increase over the next three years…”
In addition, LHH’s guide breaks down in-house counsel salary data in a similar way to some of the other providers in our In-House Counsel Salary Guide:
LHH breaks down companies into small, medium and large buckets, with small companies having $50 million or less in revenue, medium-sized companies having between $51 million and $500 million in revenue and large companies having $501 million or more in revenue. From small to large companies, “counsel” roles for 2024 are projected to range from $85,505 to $197,432. For general counsel or chief legal counsel roles, LHH predicts a compensation range of $214,635 at small companies to $464,419 at large companies. LHH also provides data for senior counsel and Associate/Assistant GC positions. As noted in the guide, location matters, and certain locations for positions have “multiplier” figures which are used to localize the jobs for larger metro areas.