GE counsel tops list of in-house high earners

General Electric’s (GE) general counsel has been named as the highest-paid in-house lawyer in the US, after pocketing a staggering $4.365m (£2.449m) in 2003.

According to the latest statistics, compiled by industry magazine Corporate Counsel, Benjamin Heineman’s impressive remuneration package included bonuses totalling $2.89m (£1.62m), which is an 11 per cent increase on his 2002 deal. He also pocketed an extra $3,597,750 (£1,815,860) in realised stock. The former Sidley & Austin (now Sidley Austin Brown & Wood) man has enlisted a slew of top talent from several prestigious US firms in his 17 years with GE, and is widely regarded as having improved the standard of in-house lawyering.

One of the key findings of the 2003 survey was the realisation of stock options. According to Corporate Counsel: “Chief legal officers doubled their cash-outs between 2002 and 2003, to $95m [£53.3m], with one general counsel, Boston Scientific Corporation’s Paul Sandman, reaping nearly $20m [£11.2m].”

Heineman’s salary increase of 9 per cent was three times the average for the top 100 general counsels in 2003, while the average annual bonus was upped by 7 per cent to $605,773 (£339,808).

General counsel for communications services topped the list, earning more than any other industry, with an average compensation package of $1.4m (£785,300) in the last fiscal year.