The gender pay gap is alive and well among U.S. in-house counsel, especially at the general counsel level where women make about 78 percent of the average total compensation that their male counterparts make, according to a new study.

Executive search firm BarkerGilmore on Tuesday released its 2018 In-House Counsel Compensation Report, based on a random sample of nearly 2,000 in-house counsel in the United States.

Aside from showing a large and persistent gap between male and female general counsels' average total compensation, the study found gaps in average total pay at managing counsel and senior counsel levels. Women at these levels made 90 percent and 89 percent, respectively, of what their male counterparts made.

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Despite the disparity in total compensation, in 2018 female in-house counsel received a base pay increase equivalent to that of male in-house counsel, at 3.8 percent.

Bob Barker, managing partner of BarkerGilmore, told Corporate Counsel that the recruiting firm “doesn't see from our end any disparity in job offer compensation between men and women. The disparity seems to grow up through an organization.”

“This is the first year we included gender-specific compensation analysis in the report, and the data confirm that the gender pay gap exists within the in-house legal industry,” he said.

Both Barker and the report indicated that uncovering compensation information has become increasingly difficult in the past year as states and cities across the country pass legislation banning employers from questioning potential hires on salary history. States like California and Massachusetts have already approved such legislation, along with New York City, Philadelphia, and other major cities, in an effort to eliminate the pay gap.

The new laws only affect new hires, Barker noted, and the disparity can still “grow up through the organization” unless companies remain vigilant.

“We expect this disparity to minimize [over time],” Barker added, “and our report should help bridge the gap in communication between employers and candidates in the meantime.”

The study also showed, not surprisingly, that general counsel at larger companies are paid more on average. For example, GCs at companies with revenue under $500 million annually made a little over $400,000 a year.

General counsel earned nearly $432,000 at companies with revenues between $500 million and $1 billion; $686,000 at companies between $1 billion and $5 billion; and about $1.1 million when company revenues surpassed $5 billion.

By industry, the study showed general counsel at industrial and manufacturing companies were the most highly paid, averaging about $737,500 per year. GCs in the financial industry ranked second, at $712,000; with general counsel at tech companies finishing third at $696,000.

The lowest-paying in-house legal jobs covered by the study were those at professional service companies.

“There are many factors influencing a lawyer's actual compensation,” said a statement from John Gilmore, founding partner of the firm. “The compensation report is an excellent measure of industry trends and provides an approximate range for competitive compensation.”

In other key compensation trends, the study showed:

• A significant disparity in pay for general counsel at publicly traded companies and those at private ones. Public companies also pay consistently more at all three levels of in-house counsel.
• Long-term incentive compensation tends to be much higher for those at public companies, and sometimes nonexistent at private companies.
• In-house counsel in the life sciences sector saw the highest median increase in pay, a 5.2 percent bump.
• About 41 percent of all respondents reported they believe their compensation is below or significantly below that of their peers in other organizations. In-house labor and employment lawyers along with litigators reported the highest rate of dissatisfaction.
• And 41 percent said they would consider a new position within the next year due to compensation issues.