Lawdragon Names 12 Macrae Recruiters to 2024 “Global 100 Leaders in Legal Strategy & Consulting”
Transatlantic Legal Search Firm Recognized as the Top-Ranked Professional Recruiting Firm in Prestigious Annual Guide
Macrae, a premier transatlantic legal search firm that places partners and groups at the world’s leading law firms, is pleased to announce that a record 12 Macrae recruiters have been named to Lawdragon’s annual “Global 100 Leaders in Legal Strategy & Consulting” guide.
The 2024 honorees, who represent the spectrum of Macrae’s geographic markets, are Justine Donahue, Lauren Drake, Nick Goseland, Adil Lalani, Siobhán Lewington, Joe Macrae, Sarah Morris, Rachel Nonaka, Jane Sullivan Roberts, Andy Russell, Jon Truster, and Melinda Wallman. Lewington and Nonaka were named to the list for the first time this year, while the others are repeat honorees.
“We are thrilled to recognize Macrae and 12 of its recruiters in this year’s leading consultants guide. These individuals have amazed the market – and our research team – with the finesse, wisdom and acuity they’ve brought to the high-end recruiting market,” remarked Lawdragon CEO Katrina Dewey. “They’ve been real game-changers, which probably accounts for why Macrae is the top-ranked professional recruiting firm in our 2024 guide.”
This year marks the 10th edition of Lawdragon’s “Global 100,” which “salutes the recruiters who build and transform billion-dollar law firms, opening offices in treasured cities helmed by the most coveted talent,” as well as public relations, management consulting and other professionals, according to a statement accompanying the guide’s release. Honorees were selected through Lawdragon’s “time-honed process of robust (and simple!) submissions; peer review and vetting; and journalistic research.”
“It’s incredibly rewarding to have so many members of our team recognized for performing at the highest level in the field, and to continually see additional Macrae recruiters honored every year,” said Joe Macrae, Founder & Chairman. “As a company we strive to perform at the highest levels in our industry. Our ability to provide unparalleled service to candidates and clients is a direct result of the ethos and daily practice of collaboration and intelligence-sharing across the firm.”
Justine Donahue (Managing Director, Washington, D.C.): Donahue, profiled by Lawdragon here, works across practice areas with a special interest in antitrust that draws on her 13 years of experience as an antitrust lawyer, including in private practice as well as at the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. She is co-founder of the Women’s Antitrust Forum and is active in the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s Women.Connected Committee. She holds a JD from American University, Washington College of Law.
Lauren Drake (Partner, Washington, D.C.): Drake, profiled by Lawdragon here, places partners, groups and senior government attorneys across practice areas. Before becoming a recruiter, she held a 16-year tenure at McKinsey & Company, prior to which she practiced telecommunications law. Drake founded and leads the Female Law Firm Leaders Roundtable in D.C., which brings together women in positions at major law firms on a routine basis. She holds a JD from William & Mary Law School.
Nick Goseland (Managing Director, Palo Alto): Goseland, profiled by Lawdragon here, places partners and groups into the Bay Area offices of top-tier U.S. and international law firms. Prior to joining Macrae, he founded and operated Silicon Valley boutique Edgewater Search Group and was a Principal at Lateral Link. Before becoming a recruiter, he was a securities litigator at a Chambers-ranked litigation boutique. Goseland earned his JD from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Adil Lalani (Managing Director, London): Lalani has more than 20 years of experience successfully executing a range of exclusive partner searches and representing individual partners and teams across practice areas. He joined Macrae from Felsham Partners, a boutique firm he founded that specialized in partner-level search assignments in London. He previously worked for a number of international London-based search firms, where his work included spending considerable time in New York.
Siobhán Lewington (Partner, London): Lewington works closely with leading global law firms to identify strategic opportunities and talent, and has been responsible for many of the market-leading partner and team moves to such firms in London and Europe. Prior to joining Macrae, she was a Shareholder at Fox Rodney. Before becoming a recruiter, she practiced as a capital markets lawyer at Allen & Overy. She holds a law degree from University College Dublin and an LLM from the London School of Economics.
Joe Macrae (Founder/Chairman): Macrae, profiled by Lawdragon here, founded Macrae in Palo Alto in 2001. He splits his time between projects on the West Coast, East Coast and London. He serves as a career advisor to partners and teams and works closely with Am Law 50 and UK 20 firms to develop and implement strategic expansion plans. Macrae transitioned from law into legal recruitment in 1988 and soon after co-founded ZMB (now Hays Legal). He holds a law degree from Manchester University.
Sarah Morris (Managing Director, San Francisco): Morris represents partners across practice areas, including private equity M&A, public company M&A, capital markets, tax, restructuring and bankruptcy, litigation, investigations, real estate, and employment. Prior to joining Macrae, she spent a decade at global recruiting firm Lateral Link. Morris began her legal industry career practicing M&A at Skadden and holds a JD from Berkeley Law School.
Rachel Nonaka (Managing Director, Washington, D.C.): Nonaka, profiled by Lawdragon here, places senior government attorneys and partners across practice areas into elite global law firms. Prior to joining Macrae, she served for over a decade as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, investigating and bringing white collar securities enforcement actions. She holds a JD from the Villanova University School of Law.
Jane Sullivan Roberts (Partner, Washington, D.C.): Roberts, profiled by Lawdragon here, opened Macrae’s D.C. office in 2019. She advises high-profile partners and government attorneys seeking to transition to the private sector. Prior to becoming a recruiter in 2007, she enjoyed a 20-year career at Pillsbury, where she was a partner in the Global Technology Group as well as Executive Partner for Talent Development. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown Law.
Andy Russell (Partner, London): Russell has more than 25 years of experience in placing law firm partners and teams across practice areas into the leading law firms in London and Europe. He also specializes in new office openings. Russell first worked with Joe Macrae in the 1990’s and rejoined him in 2017 to open the firm’s London Office. He previously served as a Managing Director of Fox Rodney Search, which acquired his own firm Abrahams Russell in 2003. He holds a law degree from Sheffield University.
Jon Truster (Partner, New York): Truster has helped hundreds of lawyers advance their careers by making strategic lateral moves and dozens of law firms strengthen their New York presence in the course of his 25-year career. He works across practice areas with an emphasis on corporate law. Prior to joining Macrae, he worked for nearly a decade at New York boutique Greene-Levin-Snyder, where he was co-head of Lateral Partner Placement.
Melinda Wallman (Partner, London): Wallman, profiled by Lawdragon here, represents partners across practice areas and has particularly deep expertise in private equity and related areas. She has also launched numerous offices for law firms. Prior to joining Macrae, she led the EMEA Partner Practice Group at Major, Lindsey & Africa. She serves on the board of Black Women in Asset Management and is a co-founder of Reignite Academy. She holds a law degree from the University of New South Wales.
About Macrae
Macrae is a transatlantic legal search firm with offices in London, New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Palo Alto. Macrae works with the most successful and innovative law firms in the United States and the United Kingdom to bring on top lateral partners and partner groups and open new offices. The firm’s expertise also includes representing high-performing partners seeking to make strategic moves and senior government attorneys transitioning to private practice. Its commitment to furthering inclusion and diversity in the legal industry is reflected in the candidates it represents as well as within the firm. Macrae is a majority women-owned business, and 75% of team members identify as belonging to demographic groups that are underrepresented within the legal industry.