2009 GC Compensation Survey

By: Vanessa Vidal

Historically, general counsels at the nation’s largest companies enjoyed a certain amount of immunity from economic fluctuations. The past decade shows a nearly unbroken string of pay raises. Even through the previous recessions, these general counsels stayed largely untouched. However, according to a recent survey conducted by Corporate Counsel, it appears that this trend is no more. While some indexes of general counsel pay rose, compensation by in large remained nearly flat. Why? Because executive pay has become inextricably bound with corporate performance. If the company doesn’t do well, the GC might find a thinner pay packet. How thin? It’s all relative. Make no mistake, these top company general counsels are still handsomely compensated for their hard work, but there is a chink in the armor. General counsel at the nation’s top companies earned $1.8 million in pay and bonuses last year, an increase of 2.6%. Here is a 2009 GC Compensation Survey with a breakdown tallied by Corporate Counsel:
  • Average salary was $596,393, an increase of 5%(⇑)
  • Average bonus was $1.16M, an increase of less than 1% (⇑)
Bonuses were a combination of bonuses not tied to performance goals and “nonequity incentive compensation” paid for making performance targets. “The world economy may be limping,” reported Corporate Counsel. “Economic sectors like banking and manufacturing are still waiting for those green shoots to pop up, while the real estate market continues to search for the bottom. But last year the general counsel of the nation’s largest companies still managed to get a modest raise. “Salary increases and generous bonuses generate great headlines. But that’s not how most chief legal officers amassed their wealth over the years. One of the big attractions of being an in-house lawyer, in good times, at least, is the chance to own company stock. And that’s held true even though the way companies distribute shares has changed dramatically.At the same time, compensation tied to company shares fell:
  • Average stock award was $1.1M, a decline of 18% (⇓)
  • Average option award was $669,719, a decline of 7% (⇓)
Still, by the standards of a working population dealing with everything from mass layoffs to unpaid furloughs, top legal officers at Fortune 500 companies continued to earn a very decent living. Usually the top paid corporate lawyer is the chief legal officer of a thriving big conglomerate. In the 2008 survey, however, the best-compensated lawyer was Gregory Doody, a bankruptcy expert hired to lead the Calpine Corp. out of bankruptcy, Corporate Counsel reports in a separate story. He took home $9.7 million in cash and bonuses last year; he has since left the company. But those figures were tabulated last year. Will the overall picture for general counsels look bleaker in next year’s survey? And will a sustained economic downturn in 2009 mean the end of $9 million bonuses, even for the general counsel of a thriving wireless telecommunications conglomerate? That remains to be seenHere is the list of the 100 top-paid general counsels (total cash compensation):
  1. Gregory Doody, Calpine Corporation, TX, $9,743,621
  2. Donald Rosenberg, Qualcomm Incorporated, CA, $9,676,940
  3. Brackett Denniston III, General Electric, CT, $7,050,200
  4. Charles Wall, Philip Morris International Inc., NY, $4,194,538
  5. Alan Braverman, The Walt Disney Company, CA, $4,032,885
  6. Gary Lynch, Morgan Stanley, NY, $3,469,000
  7. Paul Cappuccio, Time Warner Inc., NY, $3,050,000
  8. Russell Deyo, Johnson & Johnson, NJ, $2,988,896
  9. Carrie Dwyer, The Charles Schwab Corp., CA, $2,974,399
  10. Louis Briskman, CBS Corporation, NY, $2,905,000
  11. Thomas Strickland, UnitedHealth Group, MN, $2,692,115
  12. Jon Walton, Allegheny Technologies Inc., PA, $2,587,733
  13. Peter Beshar, Marsh & McLennan Companies, NY, $2,563,750
  14. Michael Fricklas, Viacom Inc., NY, $2,440,300
  15. Albert Cornelison, Jr., Halliburton Company, TX, $2,420,000
  16. Alan Schnitzer, The Travelers Companies, NY, $2,350,000
  17. Charles Matthews, Jr., Exxon Mobil Corp., TX, $2,332,305
  18. Thomas Sabatino, Jr., Schering-Plough Corp., NJ, $2,181,343
  19. David Horn, AK Steel Holding Corporation, OH, $2,033,372
  20. Alan Crain, Jr., Baker Hughes Incorporated, TX, $1,976,595
  21. Sheldon Cammaker, Emcor Group, Inc., $1,968,750
  22. Marc Manly, Duke Energy Corporation, NC, $1,865,342
  23. David Drummond, Google Inc., CA, $1,826,251
  24. William Barr, Verizon Communications Inc., NY, $1,787,546
  25. Laura Schumacher, Abbott Laboratories, IL, $1,761,508
  26. Robert Armitage, Eli Lilly and Company, IN, $1,738,208
  27. David Smith, Archer Daniels Midland Co., IL, $1,728,400
  28. Julia Lambeth, Reynolds American Inc., NC, $1,725,850
  29. Raymond Bukaty, Western Digital Corp., CA, $1,675,000
  30. Leila Vespoli, FirstEnergy Corp., OH, $1,635,025
  31. Marc Firestone, Kraft Foods Inc., IL, $1,634,904
  32. Carol Ann Petren, Cigna Corporation, PA, $1,633,269
  33. Douglas Sgarro, CVS Caremark Corporation, RI, $1,593,318
  34. Richard Baer, Qwest Communications, CO, $1,566,209
  35. Charles Tanabe, Liberty Media Corporation, CO, $1,534,752
  36. J. Barclay Collins II, Hess Corporation, NY, $1,525,000
  37. David Savner, General Dynamics Corporation, VA, $1,501,250
  38. Arthur Block, Comcast Corporation, PA, $1,498,669
  39. Brian Miller, The AES Corporation, VA, $1,494,938
  40. Denise Keane, Altria Group, Inc., VA, $1,487,500
  41. C. Michael Carter, Dole Food Company, Inc., CA, $1,485,094
  42. John Halvey, NYSE Euronext, Inc., NY, $1,480,769
  43. Jay Stephens, Raytheon Company, MA, $1,469,146
  44. David Sudbury, Commercial Metals Company, TX, $1,385,810
  45. Robert Sharpe, Jr., ConAgra Foods, Inc., NE, $1,387,019
  46. J. Michael Hemmer, Union Pacific Railroad, NE, $1,353,000
  47. W. Burks Terry, Northrop Grumman Corp., CA, $1,341,320
  48. Grier Raclin, Charter Communications, Inc., MO, $1,339,327
  49. Hyun Park, PG&E Corporation, CA, $1,320,804
  50. Robert Osborne, General Motors Corporation, MI, $1,317,500
  51. James Garraux, United States Steel Corp., PA, $1,298,340
  52. Robert Reeves, Sr., Anadarko Petroleum, TX, $1,292,869
  53. Larry Hunter, The DirecTV Group, Inc., CA, $1,285,753
  54. C. Thomas Harvie, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, OH, $1,270,000
  55. Bruce Kuhlik, Merck & Co., NJ, $1,246,271
  56. Robert Walters, Energy Future Holdings, TX, $1,230,784
  57. Thomas Boudreau, Express Scripts, Inc., MO, $1,216,292
  58. Bryan Hall, Virgin Media Inc., NY, $1,206,891
  59. Noah Hanft, MasterCard Incorporated, NY, $1,198,250
  60. Steven Cossé, Murphy Oil Corporation, AR, $1,195,833
  61. Robert Schoonenberg, Avery Dennison Corp., CA, $1,192,958
  62. Joshua Floum, Visa, Inc., CA, $1,185,981
  63. Frank Steeves, Emerson Electric Co., MO, $1,160,000
  64. Terrence Linnert, Goodrich Corporation, NC, $1,156,515
  65. Donald de Brier, Occidental Petroleum Corp., CA, $1,151,000
  66. Gregory Butler, Northeast Utilities, CT, $1,142,216
  67. Steven Covey, Navistar International Corp., IL, $1,135,000
  68. Ellen Kaden, Campbell Soup Company, NJ, $1,133,333
  69. Joseph Listengart, Knight Inc., TX, $1,133,077
  70. Leonard Kennedy, Sprint Nextel Corporation, KS $1,132,895
  71. Ira Lederman, W.R. Berkley Corporation, CT, $1,115,435
  72. Peter Janzen, Land O’Lakes, Inc., MN, $1,111,915
  73. Vincent Maffeo, ITT Corporation, NY, $1,105,431
  74. Kevin Lilly, SPX Corporation, NC, $1,105,000
  75. Javade Chaudhri, Sempra Energy, CA, $1,104,687
  76. Dwight Rettig, National Oilwell Varco, Inc.,TX, $1,098,696
  77. Vernon Baker II, ArvinMeritor, Inc., MI, $1,096,567
  78. Ellen Fitzsimmons, CSX Corporation, $1,092,500
  79. J. Michael Luttig, The Boeing Company, IL $1,092,418
  80. James Benson, ADP, Inc., NJ, $1,087,314
  81. Cheryl Hodges, Omnicare, Inc., KY, $1,081,689
  82. James Hixon, Norfolk Southern Railway Co., VA, $1,078,750
  83. James Breedlove, Praxair, Inc., CT, $1,061,050
  84. Susan Lanigan, Dollar General Corporation, TN, $1,048,179
  85. Bart Colli, ARAMARK Corporation, PA, $1,037,981
  86. Scott Rozzell, CenterPoint Energy, Inc., TX, $1,035,513
  87. Kenneth Siegel, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, NY, $1,032,303
  88. David Leitch, Ford Motor Company, MI, $1,000,000
  89. Joey Loudermilk, Aflac Incorporated, GA, $983,588
  90. Hayward Fisk, Computer Sciences Corporation, VA, $979,050
  91. Mitchell Kosh, Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, NY, $972,188
  92. Richard Mack, The Mosaic Company, MN, $964,167
  93. Charles Fenton, Black & Decker Corp., MD, $960,000
  94. Roger Cooke, Precision Castparts Corp., OR, $925,500
  95. Gary Bahler, Foot Locker Inc., NY, $901,421
  96. Gary Chadick, Rockwell Collins, Inc., IA, $897,420
  97. William Casazza, Aetna Inc., CT, $895,491
  98. R. Edwin Selover, Public Service Enterprise, NJ, $888,325
  99. James Diggs, PPG Industries, Inc., PA, $872,500
  100. Curtis Shaw, Celanese Corporation, TX, $872,114
Here is the list of the top paid women general counsels (total cash compensation):
  1. Carrie Dwyer, The Charles Schwab Corp., CA, $2,974,399
  2. Laura Schumacher, Abbott Laboratories, IL, $1,761,508
  3. Julia Lambeth, Reynolds American Inc., NC, $1,725,850
  4. Leila Vespoli, FirstEnergy Corp., OH, $1,635,025
  5. Carol Ann Petren, Cigna Corporation, PA, $1,633,269
  6. Denise Keane, Altria Group, Inc., VA, $1,487,500
  7. Ellen Kaden, Campbell Soup Company, NJ, $1,133,333
  8. Ellen Fitzsimmons, CSX Corporation, $1,092,500
  9. Cheryl Hodges, Omnicare, Inc., KY, $1,081,689
  10. Susan Lanigan, Dollar General Corporation, TN, $1,048,179
Written on:07/15/09 PDF Version