New ALM Study Reports Chief Legal Officer Compensation Increases Have Moderated; Other in-House Lawyers See Compensation Declines

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
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.

ALM, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, GlobeSt.com, ALM Legal
Intelligence, Insight Conferences, Law.com, Law Journal Press, LegalTech, The
National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum are trademarks or registered
trademarks of ALM Media Properties, LLC.

Peters & Feldman for ALM
Lee Feldman, 203-341-8922
lfeldman@alm.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009