Major, Lindsey & Africa Names Five New Partners

Hanover, MD (July 17, 2019) — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world’s leading legal search firm, today announced five new partners within the firm: Ru Bhatt who is based in New York; Lauren Drake who is based in Washington, D.C.; Jay Kim who is based in San Francisco; Kristy Robinson who is based in Washington, D.C.; and Olivia Seet who is based in Singapore.

“Partnership is recognition of outstanding performance over several years, the sustained living of our culture and values, and positively impacting the performance of others on the team,” said John Cashman, president of Major, Lindsey & Africa. “Ru, Lauren, Kristy, Jay and Olivia consistently display all of these attributes and have worked tirelessly to build our business lines through cross-selling and collaboration. We are truly proud of their accomplishments.”

Ru Bhatt specializes in placing attorneys of all levels in top-tier national, international, regional and boutique law firms as well as in prominent in-house positions. He has developed an expertise in the New York legal market and distinguishes himself by taking pride in acting as a career counselor and a strong advocate for his candidates by helping them identify opportunities that are consistent with their diverse career goals. Ru earned his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

Lauren Drake specializes in representing and placing partners, counsel and groups into top global, national, regional and local law firms. Lauren spent most of her career with international management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which provided her with a solid foundation in business knowledge. She understands the business needs of law firms, the keys to building a successful practice and what enables lawyers to thrive in specific environments. After graduating from William & Mary School Law School, Lauren practiced telecommunications law in Washington, D.C.

Jay Kim focuses on in-house searches from small private to Fortune 500 companies and recruits for a wide range of positions, including IP, compliance, AGC/DGC and general counsel roles. Since joining Major, Lindsey & Africa in April of 2011, a majority of her placements have been diversity candidates. After graduating from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, Jay started her career working as a litigator for five years, including at Gordon & Rees as an associate and with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a legal affairs staff attorney.

Kristy Robinson handles business development, client relationships and recruiter leadership for the Washington, D.C. Interim Legal Talent team and has been recognized, within the company, for her ability to develop solid long lasting client relationships and for her excellent salesmanship. She represents the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions, providing skilled legal professionals to corporate legal departments and law firms. After receiving her J.D., Kristy worked as a senior litigation attorney in Florida, handling premises liability, insurance defense, and malpractice cases.

Olivia Seet is the Head of the In-House Practice Group, Asia Pacific and partners with multinational corporations and financial services clients to assist them in filling critical and strategic positions within their organizations. She has a strong track record of placing general counsel, first Asia-Pacific counsel, first China counsel and senior compliance counsel for multinational companies. Olivia's extensive legal search experience in Asia Pacific that spans over a decade provides her clients and candidates with a unique perspective of the market.