Cathy B. Abelson, President founded Abelson Legal Search in 1990 to meet the search needs of law firms and corporations, as well as of those attorneys seeking new positions in the Delaware Valley. With nearly thirty years’ experience in the legal community, she is uniquely qualified to identify and match attorneys at both the partnership and associate level.

Cathy was the Senior Attorney Search Consultant at Legal Placements, Inc., Philadelphia, for seven years, where she placed associates and partners with an emphasis on associate placement in the Philadelphia area. Her work for Legal Placements, Inc., gained the firm’s "excellent" rating from The American Lawyer, ranking it in the top 25 firms in the United States. During that firm’s existence, she facilitated the growth of many law firms and corporate law departments, and the successful moves of numerous experienced attorneys.

As Director of Administration and Student Affairs of The Institute for Paralegal Training in Philadelphia in the 1970s and early 1980s, Cathy recruited and hired practicing attorneys as instructors and was responsible for the administration of academic, faculty and student affairs.

To meet the changing needs of the legal industry today, Cathy has built a team of experts in the field of permanent, contract and temporary attorney staffing as well as services for paralegal and senior level administrative placements.

cabelson@abelsonlegalsearch.com

Jessica L. Abelson, Attorney Search Consultant, manages special projects for the firm. She has broad experience working with contract assignments in both corporate and legal environments.

Jessica is a certified member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Supplier Network and has received specialized training in meeting the particular needs of contract employers and employees. Her work in service-directed positions with several corporations in both the Philadelphia and Boston areas has given Jessica additional knowledge of business operations. Jessica is a member of the Board of Directors of the Young Friends Board of The Children’s Crisis Center.
She received a B.A. from Rosemont College, an A.B. from Boston University and is also a graduate of the Baldwin School. She studied in Spain and is fluent in Spanish.

jabelson@abelsonlegalsearch.com

Joyce A. Feinstein, Attorney Search Consultant, has more than twenty years’ experience marketing recruitment and professional staffing services nationwide in the legal, financial services and technology industry. She has been successful in providing executive level talent and servicing clients that range in size from boutique firms to Fortune 500. Her strengths are engaging quality clients, employing a consultative style and building long-term relationships by delivering creative, effective results. Joyce provides a client-focused approach to every search she’s engaged in adding value to the talent acquisition process.

Joyce began her career as Director of the Institute for Employee Benefits Training, and later moved on to positions as a marketing representative for Comshare, as a recruiter for Worlco Computer Resources and, most recently, as the President of Executive Resources, a search firm she founded in 1990. She has been working in the legal community and with Abelson Legal Search for the past four years.

Joyce A. Feinstein is a cum laude graduate of Ohio State University, with a major in Behavioral Sciences, and the Institute for Paralegal Training’s program in Employee Benefits Plans.

jfeinstein@abelsonlegalsearch.com

Sandra G. Mannix, Senior Attorney Search Consultant has more than twenty years’ experience in professional education, recruitment, retention and communications.

For thirteen years, Sandy was the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Villanova University School of Law and for four years served as the Vice President of Student Affairs at the Pennsylvania College of Podiatric Medicine. She also has been an administrator at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and worked as a professional consultant for several local, statewide and national political campaigns. She was a law school liaison member to the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors.

Sandy received her B.A., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Goucher College and did graduate work at the Annenberg School of Communications of the University of Pennsylvania. For Abelson Legal Search, she wrote a regular column in The Legal Intelligencer on Philadelphia area attorneys and their charitable activities and has been quoted in The Intelligencer, The Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Business Journal and other publications as well as on National Public Radio. Sandy is the author of a chapter on the Philadelphia legal market in Changing Jobs: A Handbook for Lawyers for the 1990’s, (published by the American Bar Association) and a chapter of professional recruiting in The Art and Science of Legal Recruiting (Aspatore Books). She has written numerous articles for The Legal Intelligencer on such career topics as resume and interview preparation, “dressing for success” and life balancing. She has provided expert testimony on attorney and paralegal employability issues in courts in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.

Sandy, her attorney husband and daughter live on a working farm in Chester County. She was a five-time winner on “G.E. College Bowl” and has appeared on “Jeopardy” and “Top of the World.”

smannix@abelsonlegalsearch.com

Ricki Kleinman is a legal search consultant responsible for paralegal, legal secretary, and other support staff placements at Abelson Legal Search. Prior to working at Abelson, Ricki gained experience as a paralegal and attorney recruitment manager for a national recruiting firm. As a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Ricki keeps up-to-date on the happenings of the local legal community.

Ricki graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Sociology. She then continued her education at the University of Maryland School of Law where she earned her Juris Doctorate as well as a certificate in Health Law. Ricki is a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Bars. She currently resides in Center City and enjoys reading mystery novels and volunteering for PAWS in her spare time.

rkleinman@abelsonlegalsearch.com

Chastity C. Bruno, Attorney Search Consultant, works closely with President Cathy Abelson on attorney placements of all levels. She received her B.A., cum laude, from Bloomsburg University in 1993, where she was identified as the #1 graduating senior in the Political Science Department and where she was elected to Who’s Who Among College Students. After completing the Litigation Management Program of the Philadelphia Institute of Paralegal Studies, Ms Bruno worked as a paralegal in Wilkes-Barre, PA. In 1998 she received her J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board, the Women’s Law Association, Black Law Students’ Association and a research assistant. She was named to Who’s Who Among Law Students and a Duquesne University Merit Scholar.

After work as a litigation associate at Pittsburgh’s Doepken Keevican & Weiss, Ms Bruno returned to the Philadelphia area to become a litigation associate with Rubin & Associates, the Paoli-based employment boutique. In 2002 she joined the Philadelphia office of Saul Ewing, working primarily in the area of securities litigation. Ms Bruno has handled cases ranging in value from $100,000 to more than $5 million.

Ms Bruno lives in Lower Gwynedd with her husband and three young children.

cbruno@abelsonlegalsearch.com