2019 In-House Lifestyle & Salary Survey

A Look at the Job Satisfaction and Salaries of In-House Counsel

The 2019 Leopard Solutions’ Corporate Counsel Salary and Lifestyle Survey is aimed at understanding corporate counsel, practice trends, and the demands that corporate counsel not only set upon themselves but on law firms and the attorneys that ultimately represent them. We want to learn more about in-house attorneys and how they feel about their position within the organization. This survey provides insights for the Leopard audience, which consists of legal search and talent acquisition professionals, law firm business development, and marketers.

We polled in-house attorneys from the Leopard corporate counsel directory. The respondents represent 666 public and private organizations across the US.

Why Salary and Lifestyle?

In a perfect society, gender and ethnicity wouldn’t be a question. That is not a reality right now in the US. However, this survey can help the law firm and corporate business units we serve better bridge the gap for all-around equality. It has been greatly publicized that in-house counsel has better “work/life balance” than their law firm counterparts, but nearly half of the respondents state they would consider returning to a law firm. Why they would leave a 9-to-5 type of position is unknown; however, one of the reasons could be advancement opportunities. Over a third of survey respondents state they are dissatisfied [to a certain extent] with the level of opportunities to further their careers. Some would argue that in-house counsel have far more opportunities to take their careers to different levels than their law firm colleagues. Despite the hours, the work-life balance, and the total compensation package, many are open to returning to law firm life.

Check out the full survey detailing the pros and cons of corporate counsel available for free download here.