Pearson Partners Expands Search Staff
January 29, 2020 – Dallas-headquartered Pearson Partners International has expanded with the addition of veteran attorney Cortland Kelly Grynwald as vice president. She brings to the firm experience in recruiting leaders for both corporate and law firm clients.
“The insight that Cortland brings to our team, gained from experience in her law practice and legal search career, is invaluable to our clients and to our team,” said Keith Pearson, chairman and CEO of Pearson Partners. “Our clients who are seeking fresh leadership related to the legal, risk, ethics and compliance leadership could not access a more qualified resource to assist with these highly specialized searches.”
Ms. Grynwald worked as a practicing attorney for more than six years, beginning with the firm Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed in Orlando, FL, where she gained diverse experience in land use, commercial real estate leasing, commercial and real estate litigation, bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and commercial loan workout matters. She later joined the Dallas law firm of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, focusing on bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Her experience as an attorney drew her to a career shift in 2005, when she became a legal recruiter performing permanent placement searches for corporate and law firm clients.
Most recently, Ms. Grynwald has specialized in legal services business development, providing in-house clients with flexible talent, managed legal services and legal operations solutions. She has served in leadership positions on several committees with Attorneys Serving the Community, a group of lawyers that collectively use their resources and talents to support local non-profit organizations whose programs benefit women, children or families. She earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law.
“I’m thrilled to join Pearson Partners, where I have the rare opportunity to marry my established network in legal, ethics and compliance with Pearson Partners’ respected reputation in retained executive search in order to develop another outstanding service offering to new and existing corporate clients,” said Ms. Grynwald. “With so many complementary capabilities to tap into, combining our expertise is a natural and exciting fit.”
Veteran Search Consultants
Established in 2002, Pearson Partners is a full-service retained executive search firm, securing top talent for positions that range from CEOs and CFOs to CIOs, board members and senior executives. Its clients include Fortune 1000 companies, private equity firms and emerging businesses.
Pearson Partners recently appointed Renee Baker Arrington to the position of president and the newly created post of chief operating officer. She has been with the firm for 13 years. She is a member of the board of directors and most recently served as senior vice president.
“Having worked alongside Renee for more than a decade, I can think of no one more qualified to join me in leading Pearson Partners,” said Mr. Pearson. “She brings an innate, strong understanding of the executive search process and of our firm’s philosophy and culture. Renee is a natural leader and problem solver with an ability to quickly identify patterns and strategic connections that benefit our clients in search as well as in larger leadership development realms.”
“The talent acquisition market continues to evolve, aided by technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning, and as a matter of interest, we are tracking this,” said Ms. Arrington. “We firmly believe that at the executive levels where we work, the personal touch endures. Our high-touch, high-service approach is why we’ve led the industry in broadening our services beyond search, to include leadership assessment, coaching, onboarding and succession planning.”
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
