Altria’s Denise Keane First Woman to Be Highest-Paid Legal Executive for Year, According to Corporate Counsel’s 2010 GC Compensation Survey

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a development that provides evidence of additional cracks in the glass ceiling for women executives, Denise Keane, the top legal officer at Altria Group, Inc., took home $6.5 million in total cash compensation in 2010 to lead the way among her peers at U.S. companies.

“All in all, 2010 was a fairly good year for GCs with respect to their personal incomes”

Keane is one of a record 14 women to land on the list of the 100 top-paid general counsel, which was published today in the August 2011 issue of ALM’s Corporate Counsel. The article is available online at www.corpcounsel.com.

The special report was based on the 2010 GC (General Counsel) Compensation Survey conducted by Corporate Counsel. The magazine’s editors have been conducting the survey annually since 1994.

“In addition to there being more women on the list than ever before, the average total cash compensation for women in our survey -- $1.96 million – was actually higher in 2010 than the $1.84 million average for the total pack,” said Anthony Paonita, Editor in Chief of Corporate Counsel, the nation’s leading magazine for general counsel and in-house attorneys.

According to Paonita, total compensation for GCs surged by 18 percent in 2010, fueled by cash bonuses (increased 29 percent to average of $1.2 million last year) and “nonequity incentive compensation” tied to corporate performance goals. For the top 50 earners on the list, combined cash bonuses and nonequity incentives made up roughly two-thirds of their total cash compensation in 2010.

Meanwhile, the survey found that stock options continue to fall out of favor, even though some in-house lawyers are still getting substantial awards. Liberty Media Corporation’s Charles Tanabe received a $16.5 million award last year and Apple’s Bruce Sewell received stock awards worth a whopping $28.4 million. Options are typically cashed out at a later date, which is why they don’t count in the annual compensation survey rankings.

Salaries – the third component of GC compensation – remained relatively flat in 2010, with base pay rising just slightly from $619,013 to $622,461.

“All in all, 2010 was a fairly good year for GCs with respect to their personal incomes,” said Paonita. “After taking a hit to their paychecks during the deepest trough of the recession, this year’s results show that chief legal officers made steady gains last year and recovered some compensation momentum.”

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