Client Overview
Our client is a rapidly growing national law firm expanding a key transportation litigation practice. The firm handles complex, high-stakes commercial transportation matters and was building the senior leadership to grow that practice into a nationally recognized platform.
The Need
The firm needed a Managing Partner to lead and expand its transportation litigation practice. The role required more than a senior attorney with management experience. The successful candidate also needed to be a respected industry figure and trusted advisor capable of representing the firm in complex, high-stakes matters.
The Challenge
The search called for deep experience in commercial transportation litigation involving school and coach buses, tractor trailers, auto haulers, and commuter and tour operators. The Managing Partner also needed experience advising clients during rapid-response incidents and working directly with regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.
Few attorneys possessed that combination of litigation depth, leadership ability, and industry standing. Those who did were typically established in successful practices, supported by long-standing client relationships, and not actively considering a move.
Team Formation
TGC Search assembled a team with a track record in searches like this one, senior roles with a narrow candidate pool where the strongest people are already established elsewhere and have no reason to look. That experience shaped the approach from the start. The priority was not collecting résumés but identifying the small group of attorneys whose litigation depth, leadership background, and industry standing genuinely fit what the firm needed.
Research
The right candidates were not going to apply, so TGC Search went to them. We mapped the market for senior transportation defense litigators and used targeted research and advanced sourcing tools to identify attorneys already thriving in established practices.
Market Insight and Guidance
Finding them was step one. Convincing one to leave a successful practice was the real work. Compensation alone was unlikely to motivate a move at this level, so we positioned the opportunity around the chance to shape and lead a nationally recognized transportation litigation practice, not simply join another firm.
We advised our client’s leadership on how to communicate its growth plans, leadership scope, and long-term vision, making sure the opportunity was presented in a way that would earn serious consideration from someone who was not looking.
Outreach and Engagement
Our consultative approach turned a cold introduction into a serious conversation. We showed how the opportunity could represent a meaningful next step in the candidate’s career rather than leading with a standard recruiting pitch. From there the process moved toward direct discussions with our client’s leadership.
The turning point came when it became clear this was a chance to influence the direction of the practice, not simply make a lateral move.
Feedback Loop
TGC Search stayed in close communication with our client’s leadership, keeping them involved throughout the search.
Results
TGC Search placed the firm’s new Managing Partner, a transportation litigator with more than 35 years of experience defending complex, high-profile matters. His background included serving as Critical Incident Counsel for the New York State Police and speaking regularly at national industry forums, including the Bus Industry Safety Council, the Auto Haulers Association of America, and the New England Bus Association.
Impact
The firm filled a leadership role it had been unable to close on its own, adding a Managing Partner with the rare mix of litigation experience, industry credibility, and leadership ability the practice required. He continues to represent the firm in high-profile transportation litigation and remains active at the same national industry forums, a sign the fit has held well beyond the placement.
