Money

New Study Reveals No Pay Gap At Top In-House Jobs In The U.S.

I'm shocked, but in the best way possible.

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Well, here’s some surprisingly good news: according to a new study by legal research firm Acritas, there is no in-house gender pay gap in the United States. Sure, their analysis was limited to those in chief legal roles, leaving open the possibility that disparity exists in the rank and file of in-house legal departments (in fact, there is evidence to support the existence of an overall pay gap in-house) but it is still encouraging news.

The data also revealed that this parity is strictly a U.S. issue — globally there is a 26 percent pay gap:

According to Acritas, men working in senior in-house legal positions are typically paid 26% more than their female counterparts around the world. However, when Acritas delved deeper into this trend in key geographic markets it discovered female chief legal roles earn the same as male peers in the US.

The equal compensation at the top of in-house food chain is also surprising in light of the spate of Biglaw gender discrimination cases alleging unequal pay at the partnership and senior counsel level. Fundamentally, the Venn diagram of candidates for partner and top in-house positions has a lot of overlap, it is fascinating the attitudes towards compensation appear to be different.

According to Lisa Hart Shepherd, the CEO at Acritas, the parity in the U.S. should provide hope for women in other jurisdictions where the compensation lags behind:

“The difference in salary levels globally is perhaps not surprising, given the same issue exists in many other industries. However, for a profession which is based on ensuring fairness and equal treatment, any gulf in reward levels seems disappointing. Our results show the US legal sector is offering compensation parity. That must give much needed hope to their peers in countries still lagging behind in terms of gender equality.”

The data was pulled from the Sharplegal survey, which conducts interviews with 2,000+ senior legal buyers in $1 billion+ revenue organizations globally.

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While no one can say the problem of gender pay gap has been solved in the legal sector, this is at least a good step in the right direction.

headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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