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 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.
 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.
 Peggy Dixon, Attorney Search Consultant/Legal Professional Recruiter and Marketing Director, brings an extensive background in the legal community and demonstrated business development and marketing skills to the firm. Formerly with a mid-Atlantic law firm, Peggy worked closely with associate and lateral recruiting and attorney professional development programs. She also managed the marketing initiatives for the firm’s Philadelphia, Wilmington and Newark offices. Peggy has a strong background in publishing and media relations. Before bringing her talents to the legal community, she was an Advertising Manager for Philadelphia’s largest suburban newspaper group, utilizing her expertise developed through the company she founded, Mortgage Reporting Service.
At Abelson Legal Search Peggy works closely with Cathy Abelson, with a particular emphasis on law firm marketing professionals and mid-senior level attorney placements. She has been instrumental in Abelson Legal Search’s expansion of services to include legal administrative personnel including marketing, business development and recruiting positions.
Peggy resides with her attorney husband and their Jack Russel terriers in West Chester’s village of Marshalton.
 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.
 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.”
 Pamela E. Peery, Esq., Attorney Search Consultant, works closely with President Cathy Abelson on attorney placements of all levels. Pam’s experience as a Los Angeles-based legal recruiter, trial lawyer and adjunct professor of law is helpful in guiding candidates during their career change.
A graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder with a BFA in Art History, she received her Juris Doctor from the University of Denver College of Law in 1992, where she was an editor of the law review. After graduation, she worked as a trial lawyer at a small law firm, successfully arguing motions and conducting hearings for a diverse group of clients.
Upon relocating to Los Angeles from Colorado, she joined the legal placement firm of Kaufman Davidson, where she successfully placed associates in leading law firms. Then, as a senior editor of the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Pam received numerous accolades shaping and editing articles written by associates, partners, judges and law professors. She considers it her mission to help lawyers effectively market themselves via resumes and writing samples. She also enjoyed teaching legal writing as a part-time adjunct professor of law at Chapman University School of Law. A Colorado transplant, she, her lawyer-husband, two very young children and 16-year-old cat now reside in Wynnewood, where they are braving east coast-style skiing and hiking.
 Stephanie A. Ristvey, Paralegal Search Consultant
manages the firm’s paralegal placement division and a variety of contract assignments.
Stephanie is well known throughout the Philadelphia legal community for recruiting and placing permanent and contract paralegals and attorneys. Previously President of Paralegals Per Diem, a firm she founded in 2000, Stephanie brings a special perspective to Abelson Legal Search. In addition to her management experience, Stephanie has worked as a senior level paralegal in charge of complex litigation matters for AM Law Top 100 firms and specialty boutique firms.
She is a graduate of Juniata College and the Philadelphia Institute for Paralegal Training. Stephanie is a member of the Philadelphia Association of Paralegals, where she serves as the Co-CLE Coordinator for the Education Committee and is also an associate member of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Committed to the education and training of paralegals, Stephanie is an adjunct faculty member of the paralegal program at St. Joseph’s University, where she also serves on the curriculum committee. Stephanie has recently been invited to serve on the paralegal advisory board for the Community College of Philadelphia. She has lectured on numerous paralegal continuing legal education and administrative topics throughout the Commonwealth and the tri-state area.
When she is not actively recruiting for Abelson Legal Search and teaching, Stephanie devotes much of her free time volunteering in the community and spending time with her two dachshunds.
 Susan M. Rubinovitz,Esq.,Attorney Search Consultant, is uniquely positioned at Abelson Legal Search to assist lawyers and firms with their staffing needs. As a practicing attorney for eighteen years, Susan’s career path has provided her with in depth knowledge of commercial and civil litigation and first hand experience working at law firms of various sizes. In addition, Susan has worked as a community counselor placing young people with families in her community. She is a cum laude graduate of Boston University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Political Science. She earned her Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law.
Susan is a member of the PA, NJ, MA, NY, MD and DC bars. She is also a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Camden County Bar Association.
At Abelson Legal Search, Susan concentrates her practice on associate placements. She has developed strong relationships with area law firms and is conversant on the opportunities available to associates and junior level partner candidates. Susan’s special attention to associates’ long and short-term goals in their job search has made her one of Philadelphia’s most sought after legal consultants.
Susan is easy to talk to and always willing to go the extra mile for her candidates and clients. She truly listens to what is most important to attorneys in a job as well as what the specific needs of clients are for their new hires. This is one of the reasons that Susan receives frequent referrals and has developed longterm relationships with many of the candidates and clients whom she had worked with.
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