Amy Schulman

Who Are America’s Best-Paid General Counsel? (2014 Rankings)

Who are the nation's highest-earning in-house lawyers?

By David Lat on July 17, 2014 3:45 pm

Before we look at the rankings, here’s an important caveat about methodology:

This compensation is not exhaustive. Some well-paid top legal officers do not make the list simply because the five highest-paid executives [as listed in their companies’ annual proxy statements] earn more than the GC. Others don’t make the list because their company filed its proxy statement after May 31, and we couldn’t research it because of our publishing deadline. Businesses in bankruptcy or that have merged in the past year may not file proxies. And Fortune 500 corporations that are not publicly traded, such as insurance companies, don’t file proxy statements with the SEC.

Here are the top ten highest-paid general counsel for 2014, according to Corporate Counsel. They are ranked based on total cash compensation for 2013, which includes salary and bonus compensation but does not reflect stock options exercised or stock value realized.

This year’s top-ten list reflects more movement than last year’s list. Two of the listed lawyers, John Finley of Blackstone and John Parker of Coca Cola, didn’t make the top 100 last year. Two more, Gerson Zweifach and Alan Schnitzer of Travelers, appeared on last year’s list, but not in the top 10.

Consistent with tradition, here are our quick comments on some of the leading lawyers on the list:

#1 – Brackett Denniston (GE): Denniston stayed on top, even though his compensation dipped. In 2012, he took home more than $12.9 million; in 2013, he took home a mere $5.8 million. Poor guy!

#2 – Gary Lynch (Bank of America): B of A’s legal woes persisted into 2013, as did Lynch’s prosperous pay. He took home $7.4 million in 2013, up from $6.3 million in 2012.

#3 – Gerson Zweifach (21st Century Fox): Should Zweifach, a former Williams & Connolly partner, appear even higher on this list? As noted by Corporate Counsel, Zweifach “has been doing double duty as general counsel of both News Corp. and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. after they split in 2013,” and his $5,250,000 in take-home pay from 21st Century Fox does not include his News Corp. compensation (not publicly available, sadly).

#4 – Paul Cappuccio (Time Warner): The former Kirkland partner and former law clerk to Justice Scalia and Chief Judge Kozinski is a mainstay on this list. His total take-home pay grew from $8.3 million in 2012 to just shy of $15 million in 2013. Wow!

#5 – John Finley (Blackstone): A newcomer to the list, Finley flourished “not just because he’s a lawyer, but for his expanding function as both a company regulatory watchdog and a strategic partner for the C-suite,” according to Corporate Counsel.

#6 – Alan Braverman (Disney): Braverman’s cash compensation in 2013 was “just” $4.2 million, but the Disney GC’s total take-home pay of $19 million would make even Scrooge McDuck envious.

#9 – David Drummond (Google): Don’t be evil; do be rich. Google’s chief legal officer enjoyed take-home pay of $8.8 million in 2013.

#16 – Amy Schulman (Pfizer): The former DLA Piper partner left Pfizer late last year under mysterious circumstances, but her total take-home pay of $3.9 was still sufficient for her to make the list.

#36 – R. Hewitt Pate (Chevron): Chevron continues to rack up wins in its never-ending litigation with plaintiffs’ lawyer Steven Donziger, and Chevron’s GC continues to rack up dollars — an impressive $4.5 million in 2013 take-home pay.

Comparing these notable names to last year’s, what happened to former judge J. Michael Luttig, general counsel of Boeing? We actually don’t now how much he earned in 2013, since he didn’t make the list of five highest-compensated execs in the company’s latest proxy statement.

Congratulations to these top general counsel on their impressive pay packages. In-house life might be stressful, but a million dollars can buy many a massage.

The 2014 GC Compensation Survey [Corporate Counsel]

Earlier: Is It More Stressful To Work In-House Than At A Law Firm?
Who Are America’s Best-Paid General Counsel? (2013 Rankings)
Who Are America’s Best-Paid General Counsel? (2012 Rankings)
Who Are America’s Best-Paid General Counsel? (2011 Rankings)
The Highest-Paid General Counsel (Kind of)

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