Leading Palo Alto based search firm Mlegal has joined forces with four highly regarded industry professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area in its bid to expand its fast-growing global footprint. Natasha Innocenti, Carter Brown, Suzanne Kane, and Karina Robles join the recruitment company which is looking to reshape the global legal search business.  'My new colleagues are consummate professionals who know law firms inside and out and work at the highest level of professionalism and integrity,' said CEO Joe Macrae. 'They are a fantastic fit for a legal recruiting firm known as a trailblazer because they’ve all exhibited that same quality throughout their careers. We expect that adding such significant talent to Mlegal will have an immediate and significant impact on the firm and our ability to dramatically expand our services to clients in the Bay Area and beyond.'

Expansion plan

Founded by Mr Macrae in 2001, Mlegal began by focusing on law firms based outside of San Francisco and Silicon Valley seeking to grow in the region. In 2015, the company embarked on an expansion plan,  adding the East Coast team led by partner recruiter Brad Bruner, whose practice focused on New York as well as other key markets on the East Coast and in Texas. Mr Bruner, a former technology and corporate lawyer at Orrick and Fenwick & West and senior in-house counsel at well-known technology companies, serves as Mlegal’s managing partner in the East Region. In addition to California and New York, the firm now has offices in Houston and Atlanta, and plans to launch in Washington and London.

New team

The new members of the Mlegal team include the following: 

Natasha Innocenti, a legal search veteran and founder of Innocenti Partners, joins as partner in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Innocenti is widely recognised as one of the top partner recruiters in the San Francisco Bay Area, having led the Northern California partner practice at Major, Lindsey and Africa for eight years before launching her own firm. She has placed or assisted in placing more than 200 law firm partners in her 20-plus years in the business.                                                  

Carter Brown has more than 30 years of experience and joins as Chief Business Officer. His experience includes 11 years as CEO of Major, Lindsey & Africa, as well as tenures at Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass, Law Finance Group, and Richardson.

Suzanne Kane, an internal law firm recruitment leader for more than 20 years, joins as Managing Director. She has helped vet, hire, and integrate more than 100 law firm partners. Kane served for 16 years as a Manager of Attorney Recruitment & Development at Latham & Watkins. Most recently, Suzanne was U.S. Legal Recruitment Director at Dentons, where she led the hiring of partners and others in the U.S. and other regions worldwide. 

Karina Robles joins as Human Resources Administrator and San Francisco Office Manager. Her prior experience includes serving as Senior Administrator to the Northern California partner practice group at Major, Lindsey & Africa, as well as office management roles at several other prominent Bay Area organisations. 

Competition

'I couldn’t be more proud to join the masterful team Joe has assembled,' commented Ms Innocenti. 'I’ve competed against Mlegal for years and am now excited to work alongside Joe and his amazing team on our common mission to redefine what excellence is in the legal search profession.' Ms Innocenti brings to Mlegal a special skill set in representing women partners, who comprise about 40 per cent of her practice, as well as expertise in representing government lawyers.

Internationally recognised

Founded in 2001, Mlegal has grown from its San Francisco Bay Area origins to become an internationally recognised elite legal search practice representing many of the most successful and innovative law firms in the United States and around the world. Mlegal also regularly conducts select General Counsel and other executive-level in-house legal searches for major corporations around the country. Mlegal has offices in New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Houston and Atlanta, and works extensively in London on partner and team searches. 

Deep market knowledge

Seth Zachary, Chairman of Paul Hastings, commented, 'We have been very pleased with the deep market knowledge and insights Mlegal brings to the table. Mlegal’s ability to articulate our message and to deliver the superb quality of candidate that we are seeking has been a valuable catalyst to our progress.'