Corporate Counsel

About Corporate Counsel

Corporate Counsel is a New York-based monthly magazine published by ALM Media, the nation's leading magazine for general counsel and in-house attorneys at corporations across the country. The award-winning publication covers the issues facing corporate legal departments: regulatory developments, litigation management, compliance, legal department operations, and the evolving role of the general counsel from back-office function to C-suite business partner. Its signature franchises include the annual ranking of the nation's 100 best-paid general counsel, published since 1994, and the Best Legal Department competition honoring outstanding in-house legal teams. Available in print and at corpcounsel.com, the magazine serves in-house lawyers at Fortune 1000 companies and has absorbed ALM's InsideCounsel publication to become the dominant trade publication for the in-house bar.

Mission and audience

Corporate Counsel is written for the lawyers who work inside corporations rather than in law firms: general counsel, chief legal officers, deputy general counsel, and the attorneys who staff corporate legal departments. As the nation's leading magazine for this audience, it addresses the distinctive challenges of in-house practice, managing outside counsel relationships, navigating regulatory complexity, controlling legal costs, and aligning the legal function with business strategy. The magazine is published monthly by ALM and targets larger companies and legal departments, particularly the Fortune 1000. Its journalism reflects the professionalization of the in-house bar over recent decades, as corporate legal departments grew from small advisory offices into sophisticated organizations managing billions in legal spending.

The best-paid GC ranking

Corporate Counsel has ranked the nation's 100 best-paid general counsel since 1994, creating the definitive annual scorecard of in-house compensation. The ranking is based on publicly available cash compensation data drawn from examination of proxy statements for all Fortune 500 companies; public companies must disclose pay packages for their CEOs and four other highest-paid executives, and the magazine's researchers identify the general counsel among them. Survey data includes cash and bonus packages as well as the value realized on stock cash-outs, and the list also details GC equity including restricted stock grants, option grants, and exercisable options. The rankings have documented the transformation of the GC role into a C-suite position: top general counsel now earn compensation packages rivaling those of other senior executives, with pay increasingly tied to company performance through stock awards and options.

The evolving general counsel role

A central theme of Corporate Counsel's journalism is the evolution of the general counsel from back-office cop to mission-critical business partner in the C-suite. The magazine has chronicled how general counsel took on expanded responsibilities spanning compliance, risk management, government affairs, corporate governance, and business strategy. Its reporting has tracked the growing prominence of women in top in-house roles: ALM research found that women led the legal departments at 21 percent of Fortune 500 companies, up from 17 percent in 2009, with four of the 17 largest corporations employing female general counsel or chief legal officers. The magazine's coverage of diversity in the in-house bar, including the glass ceiling's history since Mary Ann Hynes' pioneering promotion to general counsel of a Fortune 500 company, has made it a forum for the profession's conversation about inclusion.

Best Legal Department competition

Corporate Counsel's Best Legal Department competition honors the outstanding in-house legal teams in American business. The competition recognizes legal departments that have demonstrated excellence in managing litigation, controlling costs, handling regulatory challenges, and contributing to business success. Winners and finalists are celebrated at industry events alongside The American Lawyer's honorees, bringing together the leadership of both the law firm and in-house bars. The competition gives the magazine's readers benchmarks for their own departments and celebrates the increasingly sophisticated management of corporate legal functions. Like the best-paid GC ranking, the competition reinforces the magazine's role as the institution that defines and recognizes excellence in-house.

Absorbing InsideCounsel

Corporate Counsel's dominance of the in-house trade press was cemented when ALM acquired Summit Professional Networks in 2015, a deal reported at $40 million that brought the rival InsideCounsel magazine into the ALM portfolio. ALM combined the operations of the two magazines under a single editor-in-chief, then announced in February 2016 that it would shut down InsideCounsel's print edition while keeping its website refocused on smaller legal departments at emerging companies. Subscribers to InsideCounsel began receiving Corporate Counsel, and some InsideCounsel digital content continued to appear in print as special sections in Corporate Counsel. The consolidation reflected the magazines' overlapping audiences, though ALM noted that InsideCounsel had skewed toward smaller and startup companies while Corporate Counsel targeted larger companies and legal departments. The merger left Corporate Counsel as the undisputed leading print voice of the in-house bar.

ALM and the legal media ecosystem

Corporate Counsel is published by ALM, the legal media company headquartered in New York City that also publishes The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, the New York Law Journal, and dozens of other national and regional titles. ALM's Law.com network is the web's leading legal news and information service, and the company's businesses span book and newsletter publishing, court verdict reporting, educational seminars, and market research. Within this ecosystem, Corporate Counsel serves the in-house audience while its sister publications serve law firms, creating comprehensive coverage of the legal profession's two great branches. The magazine benefits from ALM's scale in reporting, events, and research while maintaining its distinct editorial focus on the needs of corporate counsel.

Digital presence

Corporate Counsel is available on the web at corpcounsel.com, where its journalism reaches in-house lawyers beyond the monthly print edition. The digital operation delivers timely news, insights, and practical guidance on running the legal department, analyzing regulatory developments and managing risk throughout the day. The website serves the same professional audience as the magazine, offering the immediacy that monthly print cannot match. ALM's broader digital strategy, including daily newsletters and the Law.com network, supports Corporate Counsel's online presence, ensuring its coverage of the in-house world reaches readers across platforms.

Editorial leadership

Corporate Counsel's editors have shaped the magazine's voice as the in-house bar's leading publication. Robin Sparkman served as editor-in-chief during the era of the best-paid GC rankings' growth, articulating the magazine's analysis of how general counsel compensation reflected the role's rising strategic importance. The magazine's writers cover the full range of in-house concerns: the columnists and reporters who track regulatory change, legal department management, and the careers of prominent general counsel. The editorial tradition emphasizes practical value for its readers, lawyers who need to manage complex organizations while navigating an ever-changing legal landscape.

Legacy

Corporate Counsel's legacy is intertwined with the rise of the in-house bar itself. As corporate legal departments grew in size, sophistication, and influence, the magazine provided the journalism, rankings, and professional community that helped define in-house practice as a distinct and prestigious career path. Its best-paid GC list made in-house compensation transparent, its Best Legal Department competition celebrated excellence, and its reporting gave general counsel a shared professional conversation. For the nation's general counsel and in-house attorneys, Corporate Counsel remains the essential trade publication, the monthly record of a profession that has moved from the back office to the center of corporate power.

Research and special reports

Beyond its flagship rankings, Corporate Counsel produces research and special reports that document the state of the in-house profession. Its 2014 investigation into women's climb to top in-house lawyer roles, marking 25 years since the first woman's promotion to general counsel of a Fortune 500 company, combined data analysis with interviews to assess the glass ceiling's history and current state. The magazine's surveys of legal department operations, outside counsel spending, and general counsel priorities give readers benchmarks for managing their own organizations. These research products extend the magazine's value beyond news: they provide the empirical foundation for strategic decisions about staffing, compensation, and the structure of corporate legal departments. In an era when data drives management, Corporate Counsel's research function has become as important to its readers as its journalism.