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Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:32 pm
by Anonymous User
I'd love to create a thread that lists in-house salaries for members. It's hard to find info about in-house salaries. I'm hoping people will come out of the woodwork to share info. Also, feel free to post other salary/position info that you have first-hand knowledge of (e.g., you got an offer recently and turned it down, or you know a friend's salary/position).

Please post your years out of law school, years in-house, practice area, base salary, bonus, equity grants and vesting, along with industry. Feel free to share geography too if you are comfortable. I prefer not to disclose geography, but it's a primary non-NYC market.

6.5 years out of law school
1.5 years in-house
Corporate (commercial agreements, M&A, etc.)
Base salary is $130K
Target bonus is 20% of salary (adjusted depending upon performance of company)
401K match of 3%, with vesting
Industry is tech
No travel required
Hours are 9-630 M-F, no work really beyond that

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:36 pm
by zot1
You should at least get closer than non-NY as your salary isn't that great in Cali but would be great in West Virginia and both are non-NY.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:39 pm
by Anonymous User
zot1 wrote:You should at least get closer than non-NY as your salary isn't that great in Cali but would be great in West Virginia and both are non-NY.
It's a primary market that isn't NYC (as I said above). This obviously doesn't mean WV and I agree my salary is on the low side for a primary market.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:45 pm
by zot1
My bad. I skipped the primary because wine. Carry on.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 11:54 am
by Anonymous User
FWIW, I'm a 3rd year (transactional) that just went in-house from a regional big law firm and I'm making around ~130+20% bonus in a secondary city. I actually got a pay increase from my regional big law firm.

I think they are underpaying you. It took me 6 months to find an in-house job. I had a couple of interviews at other places and they ranged from 80k to my current job. Funny that I didn't get any offers at the lower paying jobs.

I'm assuming primary market non (NYC) to be Silicon Valley.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 12:23 pm
by Anonymous User
I have gotten offers in house (big banks) that are well above a third-year BigLaw salary FWIW. Considering making the jump since better hours and better pay

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 1:13 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:I have gotten offers in house (big banks) that are well above a third-year BigLaw salary FWIW. Considering making the jump since better hours and better pay
I think hedge funds/banks/financial services companies tend to be more stressful than regular in house though (constant fire drills, etc.). I think that's why the pay is higher than other in house jobs. It's generally better hours than biglaw, but still constant fire drills. So if you're looking for a more "chill" in house job, I'm not sure about big banks...

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 1:39 pm
by Anonymous User
ive received a number of recruiting calls for in house gigs (as nyc v50 3/4th year). several times the salary im quoted is all in 150k (think base of 135). honestly don't know how hard those are because I didn't even bother trying out for those. a couple were all in 200k, but those seem to be way more competitive

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 1:50 pm
by Anonymous User
4.5 years out of law school
1.5 years in-house (worked in JD Advantage-type position before going in-house)
Transactional
Base salary is $110K
Target bonus is 10% of salary (adjusted depending upon performance of company, but individual performance can push it higher)
Corporate stock buying program
Variable bonus automatically deposited into 401k (no idea how this is calculated)
Industry is data/marketing
Market is...suburbs of primary market I suppose?

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 1:52 pm
by Anonymous User
How long did most people take interviewing and looking before getting an inhouse job?

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 2:09 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I have gotten offers in house (big banks) that are well above a third-year BigLaw salary FWIW. Considering making the jump since better hours and better pay
I think hedge funds/banks/financial services companies tend to be more stressful than regular in house though (constant fire drills, etc.). I think that's why the pay is higher than other in house jobs. It's generally better hours than biglaw, but still constant fire drills. So if you're looking for a more "chill" in house job, I'm not sure about big banks...
Honestly, I could deal with same level of stress as BL if it was 9-6 or 7 on a late day AND I didn't have to do diaries. Diaries, for me, are the worst. Working 12-14 hours and having to account for every second of that time is the pits.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 2:20 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I have gotten offers in house (big banks) that are well above a third-year BigLaw salary FWIW. Considering making the jump since better hours and better pay
I think hedge funds/banks/financial services companies tend to be more stressful than regular in house though (constant fire drills, etc.). I think that's why the pay is higher than other in house jobs. It's generally better hours than biglaw, but still constant fire drills. So if you're looking for a more "chill" in house job, I'm not sure about big banks...
Honestly, I could deal with same level of stress as BL if it was 9-6 or 7 on a late day AND I didn't have to do diaries. Diaries, for me, are the worst. Working 12-14 hours and having to account for every second of that time is the pits.
I think it's usually more like 8:30 to 6:30 or something, but yeah....to me having BL stress for life seems awful.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 2:23 pm
by Anonymous User
4 years out of law school
1.5 years in-house
Corporate
Base salary is $200K
Target bonus is 20-25% of salary
Industry is finance/funds in NYC

Hours are typically 9:30 - 6:30. No weekend work and I rarely work from home.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 2:42 pm
by zot1
Anonymous User wrote:4 years out of law school
1.5 years in-house
Corporate
Base salary is $200K
Target bonus is 20-25% of salary
Industry is finance/funds in NYC

Hours are typically 9:30 - 6:30. No weekend work and I rarely work from home.
Winning.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 2:43 pm
by favabeansoup
Not in house yet but I really support a thread like this that could get potentially stickied. That way we'd have a decent law firm salary thread vs. in house compensation. Datapoints are always nice to have.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 2:52 pm
by Danger Zone
Tag. Also can the fund anon pm me with more info about their day to day and their specific duties? I had always assumed fund work would require crazy hours.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:09 pm
by misterjames
Anonymous User wrote:I have gotten offers in house (big banks) that are well above a third-year BigLaw salary FWIW. Considering making the jump since better hours and better pay
any word on bonuses for those positions?

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:27 pm
by Anonymous User
I made it to the final few for an in house job at one of the big banks and the base salary was 95k.

My current big law job (third year, transactional) and the in house job are in the same secondary/tertiary market. Would have been a huge pay cut. Nope.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:37 pm
by Anonymous User
misterjames wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I have gotten offers in house (big banks) that are well above a third-year BigLaw salary FWIW. Considering making the jump since better hours and better pay
any word on bonuses for those positions?

Salary+bonus have been in the 225-250 range. Others have left and gotten more but at 4/5 yr level. Not totally sure how bonuses work though.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:43 pm
by bear patrol
Anonymous User wrote:4 years out of law school
1.5 years in-house
Corporate
Base salary is $200K
Target bonus is 20-25% of salary
Industry is finance/funds in NYC

Hours are typically 9:30 - 6:30. No weekend work and I rarely work from home.
Would also appreciate a PM, very interested and congrats on what looks like an awesome job.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:49 pm
by Anonymous User
I'm the Fund OP. Would prefer not to PM since people know me IRL and don't want to out my salary. I can answer any questions ITT.

I do more than just fund work; I also do securities/M&A/compliance/employment etc. I'm basically a jack of all trades.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:51 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:I'm the Fund OP. Would prefer not to PM since people know me IRL and don't want to out my salary. I can answer any questions ITT.

I do more than just fund work; I also do securities/M&A/compliance/employment etc. I'm basically a jack of all trades.
Is it constant fire drills or do you know what you have to do in general on a day-to-day basis? Also do you have a blackberry or no? I know in some jobs you don't have to check email once you're out of the office...

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:51 pm
by shotsfired12
Anonymous User wrote:4 years out of law school
1.5 years in-house
Corporate
Base salary is $200K
Target bonus is 20-25% of salary
Industry is finance/funds in NYC

Hours are typically 9:30 - 6:30. No weekend work and I rarely work from home.
They play baseball in puerto rico.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:58 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I'm the Fund OP. Would prefer not to PM since people know me IRL and don't want to out my salary. I can answer any questions ITT.

I do more than just fund work; I also do securities/M&A/compliance/employment etc. I'm basically a jack of all trades.
Is it constant fire drills or do you know what you have to do in general on a day-to-day basis? Also do you have a blackberry or no? I know in some jobs you don't have to check email once you're out of the office...
Rarely do I have fire drills; but we're on buy side so we generally dictate terms and timing. I don't have a blackberry but I do have email on my phone and I do check email when i'm home but I don't generally get any and if i do there's no rush to deal with it until morning.

It does get crazier if it's right in the middle of a deal or right before a 10-Q/K filing but otherwise it's pretty standard hours.

Re: Let's talk in-house salaries

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 4:01 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I'm the Fund OP. Would prefer not to PM since people know me IRL and don't want to out my salary. I can answer any questions ITT.

I do more than just fund work; I also do securities/M&A/compliance/employment etc. I'm basically a jack of all trades.
Is it constant fire drills or do you know what you have to do in general on a day-to-day basis? Also do you have a blackberry or no? I know in some jobs you don't have to check email once you're out of the office...
Rarely do I have fire drills; but we're on buy side so we generally dictate terms and timing. I don't have a blackberry but I do have email on my phone and I do check email when i'm home but I don't generally get any and if i do there's no rush to deal with it until morning.

It does get crazier if it's right in the middle of a deal or right before a 10-Q/K filing but otherwise it's pretty standard hours.
Ok, thanks. I hadn't heard about high QOL for funds, but it looks like buy side is a lot better. Reminder: go buy side...