Recruiter Biographies

Gary A. D’Alessio, Esq., President, has been involved with the legal profession for more than twenty years. After receiving his B.S.B.A. cum laude from Villanova University in 1976 and J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in 1980, Gary practiced law for five and one-half years at McKenna, Storer, Rowe, White & Farrug. For the past eighteen years, he has been a legal search consultant. Gary was the Co-Chair of the Careers Committee of The Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association for two years. He is also a Certified Professional Consultant with the Academy of Professional Consultants and Advisors. His in-depth legal experience and knowledge of the Chicago legal market is well known in the legal recruiting industry. He has been extensively quoted on a variety of issues regarding the legal profession in the Sun Times, Chicago Lawyer and Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Gary also has been published in the American Bar Association’s Changing Jobs: A Handbook for Lawyers for the 1990’s and the Young Lawyers Section of The Chicago Bar Association’s Lawyers’ Guide to the Chicago Job Market. Gary is a world traveler, an Eagle Scout and an avid moviegoer.

Alan J. Rubenstein, Esq., Executive Vice President, joined Chicago Legal Search as a consultant in 1995. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1986, Alan received his J.D. in 1990 from DePaul University College of Law where he was a Law Review member and the Executive Editor of the DePaul Business Law Journal. Alan spent five years as a commercial litigation and intellectual property associate with Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon in Chicago. He has been widely quoted as an authority on issues pertaining to the legal search profession in numerous national and local publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The American Lawyer, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Alan also has spoken before the Chicago Bar Association and law schools nationally on legal recruiting matters, and has testified as an expert witness on attorney placement and career matters. Alan has placed hundreds of prominent attorneys in Chicago and throughout the country. He is one of a very limited number of legal recruiters nationally that has personally generated in excess of six million dollars in placement fees.

Chris Percival, a senior consultant, is a magna cum laude graduate of the State University of New York. She began her career in executive search in 1979 and for ten years, recruited presidents, general managers and other upper to mid-level executives for U.S. and international corporations. In 1987, Chris began specializing in legal search, placing attorneys in-house and with firms in major U.S. metropolitan areas with a particular emphasis on Chicago and the Midwest. She has been published in Lawyers’ Guide to the Chicago Job Market and has spoken before the Part-Time Lawyers Network. Chris has been quoted in the national and local news media and is an active member of NALSC (National Association of Legal Search Consultants). Many of Chris’ placed attorneys have become her clients. Chris is a tireless Chicago explorer who has a passion for theatre, books and movies. (Go Netflix!)

Katherine E. Hagman, a legal search consultant, joined Chicago Legal Search, Ltd. in 2008. Ms. Hagman received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was an Associate Note Editor of the Journal of High Technology Law. Before law school, Katherine graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Psychology and Sociology, and with distinction in Sociology. Prior to joining Chicago Legal Search, Katherine recruited engineers and accountants for placement in the Chicagoland area. Katherine is an avid pug-lover and enjoys photography, scrapbooking, and snowboarding.

Nora Novak, Manager of Client Development and consultant, has been establishing and expanding client and candidate relationships at Chicago Legal Search since 2004. She received her undergraduate degree with honors from Florida State University and spent several years working in the southeastern U.S. before finally landing in Chicago. Nora is a proud member of SAG and AFTRA.