Executive Compensation at the American Bar Association

The American Bar Association (ABA) is a Chicago-based non-profit 501 (c) (6) that serves the members of the legal profession. Established in 1878, the ABA has grown to more than 400,000 members, raises about $150 million annually (membership dues, meeting fees, gains on the sale of assets, royalties, publications, accreditation fees, contributions, advertising, etc), and has more than $150 million in net fund assets (which some people refer to as an endowment).

The most recent IRS Form 990 (2017 for the year ending August 31, 2018) reports the organization employed 751 individuals who were compensated nearly $79 million (about 53% of total revenue), which equates to an average compensation of $105,200.  However, only 114 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation which means there were some very highly compensated employees. Specifically, the 16 most highly compensated employees were reported to be:

• $1,202,089:  Jack L Rives, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer
• $  433,698:  William K Phelan, Sr Associate Executive Director and CFO
• $  392,095:  Jarisse Sanborn, Associate Executive Director, General Counsel
• $  379,340:  James Dimos, Deputy Executive Director
• $  375,978:  Thomas M Susman,  Associate Executive Director, Government
• $  371,632:  Barry Currier, Managing Director, Accreditation
• $  339,956:  Alpha Brady, Senior Associate Executive Director
• $  287,170:  William Adams, Deputy Managing Director, Accreditation
• $  276,708:  Holly Cook, Senior Associate Executive Director
• $  270,511:  Carol Stevens, Associate Executive Director – CMR
• $  260,673:  Michael Kreisberg, Chief Membership Officer
• $  254,431:  H Maria Enright, Associate Executive Director
• $  245,125:  Amy Eggert, Chief of Staff
• $  244,015:  Jerome Kiska, Deputy Chief Financial Officer
• $  242,420:  Marin Balogh, Associate Executive Director – Meetings
• $  231,026:  Robert Horowitz, Director – Professional Services

Of the 16 most highly compensated executives listed above, 9 are male while 7 are female.  Of the 10 most highly compensated employees, 6 are male while 4 are female.

The IRS Form 990 reports the ABA paid for companion travel. Specifically, senior executives were offered spousal travel for general business trips during the year.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2017 for the year ending August 31, 2018) for the American Bar Association, click here.