If you are a GC or a partner and you think you are underpaid, the first thing to understand is this: feeling underpaid is not the same as being underpaid. But ignoring the question is equally dangerous. In a market where compensation is shifting, city premiums are widening, and top legal talent can still command meaningful premiums in the right sectors, silence can become an expensive habit.

This is particularly true at the senior level. GCs and partners rarely get paid simply for technical ability. They are paid for judgment, influence, revenue protection, political navigation, client or stakeholder trust, and their ability to solve problems that others cannot.

If your pay no longer reflects that, then the issue deserves a serious, evidence-based conversation with the EXCO.

The mistake many senior lawyers make is approaching the issue emotionally. They lead with frustration, gossip, comparison, or vague disappointment. That almost never works. EXCO members do not respond well to grievance dressed up as strategy. They respond to market evidence, business contribution, replacement risk, and a credible case for why your remuneration is now misaligned with value.

First, pressure-test whether you are actually underpaid

Before walking into the room, do the hard work. Your case needs to be grounded in reality, not ego.

For South Africa, for example, current published market references show:

• Average GC base salary of around R950,930, with top-end figures around R2 million, according to PayScale.
• Head of legal / GC cost-to-company ranges around R1.8 million to R3.2 million, depending on company size, industry, regulatory exposure, and region, according to Nabii Intel.
• In-house GC roles in banking, fintech, and mining commanding 10% to 15% premiums above national benchmarks in major cities.
• Johannesburg and Cape Town showing 10% to 20% salary premiums over national averages, with other cities often 20% to 25% lower.

For partners, the market is even wider and more uneven.

• PayScale places average South African law firm partner base salary around R633,000, but with a very wide top end at about R3 million.
• Top-tier equity partners in Johannesburg in premium areas such as M&A, fintech, or international arbitration may earn up to R23.6 million in 2026, with Cape Town top-end equity partners up to R20 million.

Recent reporting also notes that top-tier equity partner earnings in South Africa can vary significantly by city, with Johannesburg and Cape Town enjoying strong premiums over other centres.

Those numbers prove an uncomfortable point. The legal market is not fair. It is highly segmented by geography, practice area, business model, and economic relevance.

So your question is not whether you are paid less than someone somewhere. It is whether you are paid appropriately for your market, role, risk, and contribution.

What EXCO actually wants to hear

When senior lawyers raise pay, EXCO is not really asking whether you feel unhappy. It is asking three harder questions:

• Are you genuinely under market?
• Are you creating disproportionate value?
• What happens if the business does nothing?

That means your case should be built around four things.

1. Market evidence

Bring credible benchmarks, not corridor rumours. Show what comparable roles earn in your geography, sector, and level of complexity.

If you are a GC in a highly regulated business, or a partner in a premium practice area, your benchmark is not a general average. It is the relevant part of the market that resembles your actual role.

2. Business impact

Show your contribution in commercial language. For a GC, that may include reduced regulatory risk, avoided disputes, controlled external legal spend, improved governance, major projects enabled, or strengthened board confidence. For a partner, that may include revenue generated, clients retained, team leverage improved, profitability, cross-selling, collections, and strategic client influence.

3. Scope creep

Many senior lawyers become underpaid gradually because the role expands while compensation does not. Perhaps you now cover more jurisdictions, more entities, a bigger team, more board exposure, more regulatory scrutiny, or a more difficult client base than when your package was set.

If the scope has changed materially, that is part of the case.

4. Retention and replacement risk

EXCO may not care enough about fairness on its own. It will care about risk. If replacing you would cost materially more, disrupt clients, unsettle the board, or create operational instability, that matters.

Do not frame this as a threat. Frame it as reality.

How not to handle the conversation

Nothing weakens your case faster than sounding entitled but unprepared. Senior remuneration conversations succeed when they sound like business discussions, not wounded monologues.

• Do not lead with resentment.
• Do not complain that others are overpaid.
• Do not make it personal before you make it commercial.
• Do not arrive without numbers.
• Do not issue ultimatums unless you are actually ready to leave.

How to structure the meeting

EXCO wants to know why the business should agree that you deserve more. Here’s how to structure a clean, strong approach.

• State that you want to review alignment between your compensation and the current scope and value of your role.
• Present relevant market benchmarks for comparable roles.
• Show how your responsibilities or contributions have grown over time.
• Explain the commercial impact you are delivering.
• Make a clear ask, whether that is a salary adjustment, bonus review, profit-share review, title alignment, or a phased package review.
• Invite a discussion on timing and structure rather than demanding immediate capitulation.

How to prepare for the meeting

Here are practical suggestions before you book the meeting:

• Benchmark properly. Use salary surveys, recruiter intelligence, and sector-specific data rather than generic internet averages.
• Quantify your value. Write down what you have protected, earned, saved, enabled, or improved over the last 12 to 24 months.
• Assess role expansion. If your remit has broadened materially, document exactly how.
• Know your market. A GC in fintech, mining, or banking, or a partner in premium practices, should not benchmark against low-complexity roles.
• Decide your real objective. Are you asking for base pay, bonus, equity, profit share, team investment, or a future review point?

Prepare your alternative. If the answer is no, know whether you will accept it, renegotiate later, or test the market. Without an alternative, your negotiation posture is weaker. You do not need a resignation letter in your pocket, but you do need clarity about your options.

A final warning for partners and GCs

Not every claim of being underpaid is justified. Some lawyers are not underpaid; they are overestimating their market value, underestimating the economics of their firm or employer, or confusing visibility with value.

The South African legal market commentary already warns that a pay bubble is deflating for some partners and senior lawyers, and that many firms cannot sustain outsized compensation as demand for traditional legal services weakens.

That means timing and context matter. A perfect case made to a business under real economic strain may still get a cautious answer. But that does not mean the conversation should not happen. It means the conversation must be adult, strategic, and grounded in evidence. The strongest senior lawyers do not ask for more because they feel overlooked.

They ask because they can calmly and clearly demonstrate that their current package no longer reflects market reality or the value they create.

If that is true in your case, then stop hinting, stop complaining to peers, and prepare properly for the room that actually decides.

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