Career Management, Career Tips, Inhouse, Networking, Reference

Will you get back-channeled by prospective employers before you get hired? Spoiler alert: yes

  • On June 13, 2026
WSJ says “What your former co-workers think of you could land you a job or torpedo your chances.” Is this true? Absolutely. Employers often look beyond your list of references and reach out to shared connections to find out what you are like to work with. Why are employers back-channeling candidates now? WSJ lists a […]
Read More
Compensation, GC

GC/CLO total cash comp?

  • On June 13, 2026
What total cash comp do GCs and CLOs currently make? At public companies: 25th percentile: $574K 50th percentile: $739K (compared to private companies: $500K) 75th percentile: $1M Source: Corporate Counsel, June 2026.
Read More
Compensation, GC

What’s going with in-house comp? Are people getting raises?

  • On May 30, 2026
What’s going on with in-house compensation now? Are raises on the table? Yes. Currently the average GC raise is 3.5%, 3% for managing or senior counsel per Barker Gilmore. Who gets paid most? GCs at large public and private PE companies. Their “biggest gains are increasingly tied to company scale, ownership structure and access to […]
Read More
Uncategorized

CA Bar Results Are In!

  • On May 10, 2026
CA Bar results are in! Let’s analyze. The overall pass rate for the February 2026 bar in California hit a near-historic low of 30.8%. How does it compare to other years? Feb. 2025: 63.6%!! (unusually high scores adjusted for technical problems. For more about the meltdown, see here.) Feb. 2024: 33.9% Feb. 2023: 32.5% How […]
Read More
Compensation, GC

The $30M GC: What to Know

  • On May 2, 2026
What to know about the GC making $30M: Kent Walker’s total comp at Alphabet has stayed consistent around $30M ($29.13 last year, $30.17 the year before). What’s the breakdown? Base is $1M, which has remained the same since 2022. The rest is in equity. Why did comp drop slightly? It was nothing personal. The company […]
Read More
Compensation, GC

Big company GC compensation trend: giant stock grants ($50-70M)!

  • On April 18, 2026
The most recent big company GC compensation trend is giant stock grants, in the $50M to $70M range! Apple recruited Jennifer Newstead from Meta with a $77M grant, and Meta landed CJ Mahoney from Microsoft with a $50M grant. Why are companies offering such big grants? The GC role has expanded to include strategy, counsel, […]
Read More
Career Management, Mentors

5 McKinsey partner lessons that apply to lawyers

  • On April 11, 2026
Lawyers and management consultants share similarities: both advise on high-stakes matters in a client-service model. What can lawyers learn from go-getters who just made partner at McKinsey? This article talks to four new partners. I saw five recurring themes that apply to lawyers who are part of large teams and want to rise: Develop your […]
Read More
Uncategorized

best law schools for your career in CA

  • On April 5, 2026
What are the best law schools for your career? California law schools with the highest bar pass rates: Stanford (100%!), UCLA (96.4%), USC (92.9%), UC Davis (92.9%), UC Berkeley (92.8%), Pepperdine (90.7%), UC Irvine (90.3%). (Source: California State Bar) Non-California schools with 100% pass rates here (with at least 8 test takers): BYU, Cornell, NYU, […]
Read More