Paul Heldenbrand

By making attorney placements that stand the test of time, I enhance the personal lives and livelihoods of my candidates and contribute significantly to the financial success and competitiveness of the hiring entities I am proud to call my clients.  Candidates, employers and others also know that I can be trusted to protect their confidential information, and I have a decades-long reputation for always doing so.

For Candidates:

On the candidate side, I specialize in executing highly confidential marketing campaigns on behalf of senior-level government, law firm, corporate and other candidates seeking their next great career opportunity.  I have represented Members of Congress, Cabinet officials, federal agency heads and General/Chief Counsel, judges, top partners at national and international law firms, and even a Prime Minister of a Latin American country in exploring private sector opportunities.  I have also successfully marketed and placed numerous highly-qualified Partners, Counsel and Associates seeking a better platform for their practices and careers.

For Employers:

As a Penn Law graduate and former practicing Washington, D.C. communications attorney who voluntarily transitioned into the executive search industry in 1985, I have over three decades of recruiting and merger consulting experience.  The great majority of that time has been focused on the legal industry.  From 1991 to the present, I have conducted countless attorney and practice group search assignments for many of the best employers of legal talent in the U.S., with a particular geographic focus on the D.C.- Baltimore area and surrounding Mid-Atlantic region.  I have recruited individual lawyers and practice groups for clients ranging from small local law firms and specialty boutiques to many of the most prestigious and profitable law firms in the world.  I have also placed attorneys and other professionals with trade associations, accounting firms, corporations and other employers.

Particular Areas of Expertise:

I am fluent in Spanish, and have handled numerous international trade, tax, corporate, litigation/arbitration, project finance/development, and other international projects in addition to search assignments in virtually every other area of the law.  These areas include taxation, ERISA/Employee Benefits, litigation, corporate, national security, energy, environmental, real estate, communications and technology, and intellectual property, among many others.

Representative Assignments:

• Merger of a multi-office group of international transactions, trade, litigation and tax lawyers into another large national law firm, resulting in a very significant expansion of the client firm´s international practice and the opening of its first foreign offices;
• Recruitment and placement of a Washington, D.C. attorney as a senior tax litigation associate in the Los Angeles office of a large international law firm, followed by the confidential marketing and placement of that attorney’s spouse as an associate with a top Los Angeles-area tax controversy and litigation boutique;
• Recruitment and placement of several Ph.D. economists, CPAs and other non-lawyer professionals who provide consulting services to international trade, international tax, and other practice groups at major law and accounting firms;
• Representation of a New York-based international corporate practice group confronting major client conflicts in its move to an international law firm client rated #2 by Fortune Magazine on that publication´s annual list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For”;
• Recruitment and placement on the same day of two former U.S. Supreme Court law clerks (one of whom graduated first in his class from Harvard Law School) as mid-level litigation associates with the Washington, D.C. office of a top-tier New York-based international law firm; and
• Recruitment and placement of a law firm telecommunications associate as Vice President (later Senior Vice President) of a large Northern Virginia-based wireless telecommunications trade association.

Taking the Next Step:

I am always willing to speak with attorneys and others in strictest confidence to explore their career options and marketability – the earlier in the potential process the better.  The same holds true for employers who are considering making a critical hire and would like to discuss The McCormick Group’s proven methodology for recruiting passive candidates who do not respond to traditional recruiting efforts.  I can be reached on my direct office phone number (703.312.6722) or by email at pheld@tmg-dc.com.