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The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the world's largest organization serving the professional and business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, associations, nonprofits and other private-sector organizations around the globe.

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The legal industry’s largest and most comprehensive analysis on company-level compensation policies and salary benchmarking data across dozens of specific job descriptions

WASHINGTON (October 8, 2020) – The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), in partnership with Empsight International, LLC, released the 2020 Law Department Compensation reports.

The project comprises two main components. The 2020 Law Department Compensation Policies & Practices Report provides key HR and compensation trends pertaining to policies, programs, and practices for organizations, including insights into the impact of COVID-19.

The 2020 Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Reports provide Safe Harbor compliant data on compensation, covering:

•    1,000+ companies
•    17,000+ total in-house legal professionals
•    10,000+ in-house lawyers

“The ACC/Empsight Compensation Reports are the most comprehensive census of in-house staffing and salary available,” said Veta T. Richardson, president and CEO of ACC. “The macro- and micro-level insights have never been so necessary for stakeholders.  I am grateful to Empsight for their partnership on this important project and look forward to working together to expand and improve this offering.”

“Empsight is thrilled to partner with ACC in producing an expanded range of compensation products to legal departments of all sizes,” said Jeremy Feinstein, managing director of Empsight. “Because the data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic we believe this year's data will be especially useful for legal departments who want to benchmark against relevant peer companies.”

Among other insights, the 2020 Law Department Compensation Policies & Practices Report states:

•    Despite COVID-19, 70 to 78 percent indicated hiring plans are unchanged; depending on position, 16 to 20 percent have implemented a hiring freeze.
•    COVID-19 may have a lasting effect on work from home programs for legal departments: 25 percent are considering maintaining remote work programs after the pandemic ends.   
•    For departments administering merit increases, across all revenue levels and organizational types, the median 2020 merit budget is three percent. This is the same (three percent) for total salary budget, suggesting no additional money will be allocated for promotions or other increases.

The 2020 Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Reports include:

•    Reports specific to company (large, mid-size, and small) and job title (12).
•    Data on over 50 in-house job positions represented on 10 critical compensation metrics.
•    Downloadable Excel files that contain the data, which can then be uploaded into the organization’s HR software.

The data for this report was collected in June and July of 2020. To access the reports, click here.

About ACC: The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is a global legal association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other organizations through information, education, networking, and advocacy. With more than 45,000 members in 85 countries employed by over 10,000 organizations, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel.® For more information, visit www.acc.com and follow ACC on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

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