Management time and surprising total income for heads of IP groups (circa 2004)

Two points struck me from data in the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) Rep. of the Ec. Survey 2005 at I-73. The page shows data for 140 chief IP lawyers in corporations. One chart shows the percentage of time they devoted to nine types of work, the other chart shows “gross income in 2004.”

As to time expended, under the category “Office management/administration” the average was 12 percent and the median was 10 percent. It sounds about right to me that management of their portion of the legal department takes about ten percent of their time, a figure I have used more broadly for general counsel in terms of their oversight of the entire law department.

The compensation data, which hearkens back six years, surprised me. Two of the lawyers reported gross income greater than $500,000; one greater than $600,000; and three greater than $750,000. Even with bonuses and vested stock options or grants, those are munificent earnings for lawyers who report to the general counsel.