Top legal officers are becoming increasingly valuable to corporations, at least according to the rising number of digits in some of their compensation packages.

Pay for the general counsel (GC) and chief legal officer role reached a five-year high, according to data released last month from compensation consultancy Equilar and executive search firm BarkerGilmore.

This latest research “brings to light the expanding role of the GC and the increased compensation associated with their seat at the table,” said BarkerGilmore managing partner John Gilmore in a statement.