Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

Marketers with the word "Chief" in their title earn an average of $225,208 and a median (half are above/blow) of $200,000, according to statistics released today.  The compensation for marketers with "Director" in their title averaged $111,696 in salary and a median of $99,000.

The average annual base salary for 51% of all law firm marketers combined is less than $75,000; however 26% receive $100,000 or more.  At the same time 17% of marketers said they received no annual bonus; 51% received a bonus of only $5,000 or less.

These are the findings of a new Legal Marketing Association "Roles and Compensation Survey" that will be released July 22. A sneak preview was presented today during an LJN Web Audio Webinar, "What Legal Marketing Professionals Command for Full-Time Salary."

Furthermore, within the last two years, 85% of marketers received no signing bonus; only 10% did get a signing bonus of $5,000 or less, and only 5% received more than $5,000.  Regarding moving allowances, 91% did not receive a moving allowance; only 9% got one but the average amount was only $712.

The LMA report will include additional information on reimbursements (for Blackberrys and cell phones), reimbursement of association memberships, severance pages and employment contracts.  It will be free to all LMA members and survey participants.  A link will be sent out to a page on the LMA Web site where members can download the report.

Interestingly, the four panelists said they were seeing higher salary amounts being paid than reported in the survey.  The panelists were Elizabeth Lampert, Director of LJN's Web Audio Division and President of Elizabeth Lampert PR; Bill Crooks a recruiter with Priority Search International in Orlando, FL; Silvia Coulter, Managing Partner of Coulter Consulting Group in Boston, and Nathalie M. Daum, National  Marketing Manager of Quarles & Brady Streich Lang in Phoenix and immediate past president of the Legal Marketing Association.

Crooks said that in his placement work, he found the following salaries being paid:

• Marketing Assistants (e.g., who do data entry work) at a Top 200 firm are paid $30K to $40K.
• Marketing Coordinators are paid from $40K to $70K in large cities like New York and DC.
• Marketing Managers earn $75K to $110K depending on their duties.
• Practice Group Managers $80K to $180K.
• In the future the higher salaries will be in business development, not marketing.

It's a great time to be looking for a job, according to Crooks.  "It's very competitive among the firms.  Salaries are tending to be bumped up. A lot of firms are competing for top talent, even if the person is coming from another industry. In certain markets there is a feeding frenzy, with three firms competing for one person.   It's more competitive to find PR managers and Marketing Managers now than it is to hire a Director or CMO."

Each panelist offered a great hiring tip:

• Crooks said if you can't get a signing bonus, ask the firm to pay you $10K to $15K to make up for the fact that the firm can't contribute to your 401(k) plan in the first year.
• Coulter said new marketers should make certain that there is a mechanism in place for marketers to get sales reports from partners and feedback on sales calls.  Otherwise it's difficult for the marketer to demonstrate ROI to the firm.
• Daum said to make sure that the partners know what you are doing for them.  "Provide the partners a report on what kind of activities you're doing on their behalf," she said.
• Lampert said that marketers must provide competitive intelligence on salaries.  She crediting the LawMarketing Listserv and LawMarketing Portal for requiring employers to state the salary in a job posting.