Lawdragon Global 100 Names Six MLA Partners as Leaders in Legal Strategy & Consulting

Hanover, MD (June 16, 2022) — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world’s leading legal search firm, announced today that six of its partners—Deborah Ben-Canaan, Robert J. Brigham, Melba Hughes, Jacquelyn Knight, Jon Lindsey and Jeffrey Lowe—have been recognized by Lawdragon in its 2022 Global 100 Leaders in Legal Strategy & Consulting guide for their achievements in legal recruiting. This is the sixth annual Lawdragon guide, which relies upon submissions, journalistic research and peer vetting. This year’s guide recognizes 48 percent women and is 13 percent inclusive.

“It is an honor to have our outstanding recruiters acknowledged time and again for their excellence in legal recruiting,” said John Cashman, president of Major, Lindsey & Africa. “Deb, Bob, Melba, Jackie, Jon and Jeff are some of the best in the business, and we are proud to have them represent Major, Lindsey & Africa.”

Deborah Ben-Canaan has placed more than 900 senior-level legal leaders in corporate legal departments across the U.S. and assisted her U.S. clients in making strategic placements overseas in her 20+ years with MLA. She brings this deep experience into her role as senior practice Leader, where she works with CEOs, boards, CHROs and general counsel at organizations of all sizes to help them shape, grow and develop their legal departments.  She maintains a deeply rooted network of legal leaders and influencers who rely on her for her insight and expertise, and she provides counsel to them on important talent management areas including diversity and inclusion, efficiency, talent acquisition and retention, and succession planning. This is the third straight year Deb has been named to the Lawdragon Global 100.

Robert Brigham’s many years as a partner in an AmLaw 100 firm in the Bay Area give him a deep understanding of the practices that are important to clients in this market and provide a valuable perspective when advising law firm clients on lateral partner searches or potential candidates on lateral opportunities. He particularly enjoys counseling law firm partners on career issues, including helping partners to understand the rapidly evolving Northern California law firm market and providing confidential and objective representation if and when they decide to explore moving firms. Prior to joining MLA, Bob practiced law at Cooley LLP in Silicon Valley for more than 22 years. This is the second year in a row Bob has been recognized by Lawdragon.

Melba Hughes joined as a partner in 2012, bringing her Atlanta-based search firm, Hughes Consultants, to MLA. As the national in-house diversity practice leader, Melba is committed to advancing DE&I in leadership and has devoted much of her career to advancing that cause. In January of 2022, she was promoted to become of three executive directors for MLA’s In-House Counsel Recruiting group. A change agent and leader, Melba has been instrumental in placing general counsel in Fortune 500 companies, such as McDonald’s and Phillips 66. Her client base includes Albertsons; Home Depot, Inc.; Entergy Corporation; Southwire; Southern Poverty Law Center, Flowserve Corporation and The Azek Company.

Jacquelyn Knight has successfully counseled hundreds of partners of varied backgrounds in their placements in mid-sized and large national and global firms as well as groups of partners on complex searches. Over the last decade, she has worked with many high-profile attorneys and groups, some with a multi-geographic practice focus. An expert in the lateral partner market, she regularly conducts targeted searches in order to complete strategic placements in varied areas of practice. Much of Jackie’s client work is repeat work, given the success of her placements, and most of her partner candidates are referred by partners she placed through a successful candidate interview process and integration. This is the third year in a row Jackie has been recognized by Lawdragon.

Jon Lindsey is an icon in the legal recruiting profession and the New York founding partner of Major, Lindsey & Africa. In addition to being named a Lawdragon honoree for the fifth time, Jon is also a member of Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame, recognizing “those consultants whose strategic insight has been unsurpassed in a career dedicated to helping law firms ascend.” Over the past three decades Jon has placed some of the nation’s most prominent lateral partners and groups, worked with top-level government attorneys returning to private practice, and facilitated law firm mergers. He is the author and creator of Major, Lindsey & Africa’s groundbreaking Lateral Partner Satisfaction Surveys, and co-author of Managing People in Today’s Law Firm.  As the former global co-chair of MLA’s Partner Practice Group, Jon helped to set strategy and coordinate the partner practice for the firm's more than two dozen domestic and international offices.

Jeffrey Lowe, a four-time Lawdragon honoree, is the global practice leader of MLA’s Law Firm Practice Group. He regularly handles the most significant placements in Washington, D.C., and is widely regarded as one of the leading partner recruiters and advisors in the United States. Jeff is also the creator and author of the Major, Lindsey & Africa Partner Compensation Surveys, the most comprehensive efforts ever undertaken to identify ranges of partner compensation and the criteria law firms use in determining partner compensation. Prior to opening the Washington, D.C., office of Major, Lindsey & Africa in 2003, Jeffrey was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Hogan Lovells L.L.P.