Bonus packages drop sharply for top US GCs but salaries are on the rise

Corporate Counsel research shows cash bonuses down by 37% for top 100 US GCs

Bonuses for US general counsel fell dramatically last year, leaving total cash compensation for the country's top-earning in-house lawyers down 54% on 2008, according to new research by Legal Week sister title Corporate Counsel.

The title's 2010 GC compensation survey, based on the 2009 salary packages of the 100 best-paid GCs in the US, found that cash bonuses fell by an average of 37.1% and non-equity incentive compensation (bonuses tied to specific financial metrics, like profits or revenue) fell by 10%.

The year's top bonus came in at $3.6m (£2.4m) compared with a top figure of $9.1m (£6m) in 2008, marking a 60.4% drop.

Meanwhile, salaries saw an average increase of 3.8% to $619,000 (£407,600) from $596,300 (£392,300) last year, while stock awards rose by an average of 5.6% to $1.2m (£790,200) from $1.1m (£723,500) in 2008.

Timothy Sparks, president of management consulting firm Compensia, said: "Discretionary bonuses have been on the wane for a while now. One of the things that drives bonuses is ‘what will we have to say in [our] proxy and are we comfortable saying it?' Companies want to limit subjectivity."

The highest earner was Russell Deyo (pictured) of healthcare product and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, with a cash income of $4.4m (£2.9m), the majority of which came from his $3.6m (£2.4m) bonus.

Deyo replaced Gregory Doody of telecommunications company Charter Communications in the number one spot, as Doody fell to 39th place with a total cash income of $1.5m (£971,800) in 2009, down from $9.74m (£6.3m) in 2008.

GCs in the entertainment industry were the best paid with an average of $2.3m (£1.5m), followed by telecoms GCs, who brought in an industry average of $2.2m (£1.4m).

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