NEW YORK (October 19, 2009) – Median U.S. chief legal officer total cash compensation (salaries plus bonuses) increased by almost 4 percent this year to $485,200, according to the 2009 Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey by ALM Legal Intelligence, a leading source of business intelligence for the legal profession. But, the rate of increase slowed considerably from last year’s increase of 13 percent. In addition, general counsel/CLO was the only job title out of nine surveyed that had positive changes from 2008 to 2009 in all three categories—salary, bonus, total cash compensation. The study analyzed compensation data for more than 5,300 lawyers in 218 corporate law departments across the country. For further information, or to purchase a copy of the survey, visit www.almlegalintelligence.com.

While CLO compensation increased, total cash compensation for deputy chief legal officers, division general counsel and high-level specialists decreased during the same period, by 1.4 percent, 9.8 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. This year’s results also include the following:

• Non-management attorneys fared somewhat better than their management counterparts in 2009. With the exception of high-level specialists, the remaining non-management positions posted gains in total compensation, driven by increases in salary—not bonuses.
• For non-management positions, patent law is the most lucrative specialty for senior attorneys and attorneys. Senior IP attorneys took home 40 percent more than the national median total cash compensation last year.

Approximately 46 percent of participants were in organizations with 5,000 or more employees, with 66 percent of participating organizations reporting annual sales revenues of $1 billion or more. Additional information can be obtained by e-mailing almlegalintel@alm.com or calling 1-(888) 770-5647.

ALM Legal Intelligence offers detailed business information for and about the legal industry, focused on the top U.S. and international law firms. The division’s online research Web service, www.almlegalintel.com, provides subscribers with direct, on-demand access to ALI’s extensive database of surveys, rankings and lists related to law firms and the legal industry. The site also includes an online store where non-subscribers can, on an individual basis, purchase and download preformatted individual law firm reports, ALI Research reports and selected current-year survey data. ALM Legal Intelligence is a division of ALM.

ALM, an integrated media company, is a leading provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. ALM’s market-leading brands include The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. Headquartered in New York City, ALM was formed in 1997. For more information, visit www.alm.com.

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Contact:

Lee Feldman, Peters & Feldman for ALM

Phone: (203) 341-8922

E-mail: lfeldman@alm.com