No, average costs in the U.S. for an in-house lawyer are not $125 an hour; think at least 50 percent higher

If general counsel understate the cost of an in-house attorney hour, perhaps by assuming a high number of chargeable hours a year or only including base salaries, they are mistaken. In the ABA J., Jan. 2012 at 26, for example, a general counsel of a huge real estate management firm “notes the average cost to employ an experienced in-house lawyer is $125 an hour, a bargain compared to many firm rates.”

Actually, for U.S. law departments, according to 478 who are in the final release of the General Counsel metrics benchmark survey, the fully-loaded figure is $193 (assuming 1,800 chargeable hours per year). Thus, the quoted general counsel operates on an assumption approximately 50 percent too low. Even more, he mentions “experienced” in-house lawyers, who probably turn over the meter even faster.