Released on = October 31, 2006, 2:45 pm

Press Release Author = LawFuel.com

Industry = Law

Press Release Summary = The 2006 Altman Weil Law Department Compensation
Benchmarking Survey of U.S. corporate law departments has just been released. The
survey, published in partnership with LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell®, shows base
salaries up across the board for in-house lawyers in 2006.

Press Release Body = NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. & NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa.--LAWFUEL Law Job
Alerts - Sign Up at LawFuel.com, The Law Jobs Network --The 2006 Altman Weil Law
Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey of U.S. corporate law departments has
just been released. The survey, published in partnership with LexisNexis®
Martindale-Hubbell®, shows base salaries up across the board for in-house lawyers in
2006.

"Corporations have two tools to set in-house cash compensation - guaranteed base
salary and at-risk, performance-based bonus dollars," noted Altman Weil principal
James S. Wilber. "Each year we see a balancing act between these two components.
Last year, salaries rose slightly, augmented by big bonuses. This year, we're seeing
bigger salary increases reflecting greater corporate confidence, along with a mixed
bag of bonus levels which seem designed to catch up some of the more junior in-house
positions that were overlooked in past years."

\"Increased mobility between law firms and law departments forces corporations to
compensate more competitively in the war for talent, especially at the senior
level," remarked Barry Solomon, Esq., Vice President and General Manager of
LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell. "As a result, corporations will reward their top law
department officers first, and only later adjust compensation for junior managers
and staff lawyers."

Base Salaries Rise

Median salaries for all positions in law departments increased between 2.2% and 9.5%
in 2006. Chief Legal Officer (CLO) salaries were up 8% and Division General Counsel
(mid-level management lawyers) took home 7.1% more. Lawyers in non-management
positions also saw increases, with High Level Specialists up 9.5%, Senior Attorneys
(non-managers with eight or more years experience) up 8.5% and Staff Attorneys
(attorneys with at least one year of experience) reporting an increase of 3.5%.
Recent graduates reported a modest 2.2% raise.

All trend comparisons are drawn from a super-group of over 200 law departments that
have participated in the survey over sequential years.

The survey reports national median salary for Chief Legal Officers in 2006 at
$280,000. The Senior Attorney position drew $140,000, while a new law school
graduate earned a starting salary of $65,000.

Bonuses a Mixed Bag

Bonuses were up across the board for non-management positions in law departments -
in some instances dramatically. Senior Attorneys reported bonus increases of 14.4%
while more junior Attorneys and Staff Attorneys received bonus increases of 62.5%
and 71% respectively. In the management ranks, Division General Counsel bonuses went
up 20.29% and Managing Attorneys 25.32%. Chief Legal Officers and their Deputies
received bonuses that were down from the prior year.

The national median bonus for Chief Legal Officers was $132,000, according to the
Survey. Division General Counsel received $104,000 in bonus dollars, and Senior
Attorneys took home a $29,200 bonus.

Stock Options

Stock options for Chief Legal Officers had a median fair market value of $919,400 in
2006, more than twice the same group's' total cash compensation. Deputy CLOs
received $230,100 in stock options, Senior Attorneys $87,900 in options, and Staff
Attorneys $24,700.

Other Variables Affect Compensation

Size of law department is a key factor in the top officer compensation. Chief Legal
Officers in departments with over 25 lawyers took home 88.9% more than the national
median in total cash compensation. Deputy CLOs in large law departments earned 57.5%
more than the national median.

The survey reveals a significant difference in CLO compensation by industry. Median
total cash compensation for CLOs in the Information / Telecommunications sector was
75% more that their colleagues in the Service sector and 39.9% more in total cash
compensation than their peers nationally.

In non-management positions, practice specialty is also a significant
differentiator. High Level Specialists with a Mergers & Acquisitions specialty earn
top dollar, 23.8% more than the national median in total cash compensation. For
Senior Attorneys and Attorneys (with four-plus years experience), a Patents
specialty is the most lucrative, at 22% and 33% above the national norms,
respectively.

Survey Methodology

The complete Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey, 2006 edition contains
data from 277 law departments providing compensation data for 6,255 lawyers.
Information on an additional 41 one-lawyer departments is included separately.

The Survey reports data on nine in-house positions: Chief Legal Officer, Deputy
Chief Legal Officer, Division General Counsel, Managing Attorney, High Level
Specialist, Senior Attorney, Attorney, Staff Attorney and recent law school
graduate. Data are analyzed by industry, company size (revenue and employees), law
department size, region, metropolitan area, years of experience and other key
parameters. Data are reported as of March 1, 2006.

Compensation trend analyses, that compare 2006 survey results to 2005 survey
results, utilize a unique subset of participants. Only companies with data
submissions in both years are analyzed to determine the percentage change between
years.

About Altman Weil

Founded in 1970, Altman Weil, Inc. (www.altmanweil.com) provides management
consulting services to law firms, law departments, government legal offices, and
legal vendors throughout North American, Latin America, the U.K. and Europe. The
firm is independently owned by its professional consultants who have backgrounds in
law, industry, finance, marketing administration and government. Altman Weil offers
a broad range of consulting services, including strategy, management, governance,
M&A, compensation, marketing, finance, organization and training.

Altman Weil Publications, Inc. (www.altmanweilpubs.com), a subsidiary of Altman
Weil, Inc., has collected and published management information for law firms and
corporate law departments for over thirty years. The company conducts market
research and publishes numerous surveys of the legal profession including the Law
Department Metrics Benchmarking Survey, the Paralegal Compensation Survey and the
Survey of Law Firm Economics. Altman Weil surveys are the industry standard and are
often utilized in courtroom expert testimony.



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