Compensation, Market

What’s Going on with Startup Comp?

  • On March 30, 2025
Carta just reported on the state of startup compensation! The good news: Average salaries and equity grants rose slightly. Layoffs are at the lowest point in 3 years. These industries grew headcount: energy, hw, med device. Ready for the bad news? Startups “haven’t been this reluctant to hire in at least 5 years.” Net headcount […]
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Uncategorized

Law School Admission “Brutal This Year”

  • On March 22, 2025
WSJ reports the competition to get into law school is “brutal this year.” The number of applicants rose 20.5% for the top 200 US law schools. Why? The top reasons include: Desire for economic stability. Applicants believe that a career in law seems secure in an uncertain market. “Law school applications often rise during recessions, […]
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Networking

How to Maintain Professional Relationships (Sample Language Included)

  • On March 9, 2025
I appreciated the hands-on advice from career guru Gorick Ng on how to maintain a professional relationship. He was answering this question from someone going into law/finance, so his tips definitely apply to you. He gives 4 strategies, complete with template language (which lawyers always love): Share info. Ng suggests saying: “I just came across […]
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Uncategorized

Disastrous February CA Bar Offering by the Numbers

  • On March 3, 2025
Disastrous February California Bar Offering by the Numbers: Test takers of the newly designed California bar exam faced a myriad of problems. Many users were unable to log in, disconnected and/or locked out of the testing platform, and unable to copy and paste. Others reported getting blank exam questions or the same question twice, being […]
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Interview, Job Search

How Not to be Surprised by a Company’s Culture

  • On February 21, 2025
Lawyers can be burnt or at least surprised by what a company is actually like after they’ve joined. How to do your diligence: Do basic Internet research. Take results with a grain of salt, but figure out which themes to keep an eye on during the interview process. Ask friends who are insiders but not […]
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Compensation, Offer

How to Negotiate Comp Avoiding Common Pitfalls

  • On February 17, 2025
I often click on career tips to see if they are any good. And I liked this one, 4 Red Flags to Avoid When Discussing Salary, by career guru Sho Dewan. I go through his tips below and customize them for in-house counsel negotiating their comp: Be confident, but not aggressive or hostile. Yes. While […]
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GC

Who Gets the GC Job at Fortune 500 Companies?

  • On February 7, 2025
Law.com reports insiders get the job 49% of the time and outside candidates 51%. Let’s look at the stats: 13.6% (68 out of 500) of the Fortune companies changed GCs in 2024. 33 were filled with internal candidates, 35 with outside candidates. Apparently it’s “harder for internal candidates to land legal chief roles” now because […]
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Compensation, GC

Top Paid GCs? Yes, They’re in California

  • On February 5, 2025
Law.com reported the top paid GC as of 2024 is Alphabet’s top lawyer Kent Walker, who made $27.3M. A close second is Apple’s Kate Adams at $27.18M. Her base was $1M (where it’s been the last 6 years), stock valued at $22.16M, and cash incentive compensation at $4M. Her total comp has been “virtually unchanged […]
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Uncategorized

What’s the Deal with Unlimited Vacation?

  • On January 26, 2025
The WSJ recently reported on unlimited vacation. Ten years ago, 1% of US companies offered it, but now 7% do. (And I’ve found the Bay Area to have much higher rates.) Do workers actually take advantage? First, they need their managers to approve time off, and then they feel judged by coworkers. Also some workers […]
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Career Management, Career Tips, Market

2025 Recruiting Take-Aways

  • On January 19, 2025
I spoke on AABA’s recent career panel addressing the Bay Area in-house market with talent acquisition experts Angela Cheung (ex Uber) and Herman Gee (Exelixis). Here are 5 takeaways: Pay for top in-house lawyers has generally been trending up, despite recent layoffs. This is in line with Levels.fyi’s report on tech/engineering comp. Compensation is made […]
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