BIOGRAPHIES

The Partners Group
Phone: 404-221-9990
Fax: 404-221-9998

Paul M. Talmadge, Jr., Esq. is President of The Partners Group and is responsible for nationwide operations and client development. Paul practiced law in Atlanta 25 years specializing in commercial litigation and the representation of architects and engineers. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia where he received a BA in English and a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law where he received his J.D. He was a member of the Georgia Law Review. Paul served as the Managing Partner of Hurt, Richardson, Garner, Todd and Cadenhead. He was also a partner at Varner, Stephens, Humphries & White. Paul served as President of the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers and as President of the Atlanta Bar Association. He is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta. Prior to joining The Partners Group, Paul opened and managed the Atlanta office of a national legal recruiting firm specializing in contract and permanent attorney placements.

Cheryl L. Oliver, Esq. is the Vice President and Managing Partner of the Atlanta Office and is responsible for overall operations, client development and the selection and assignment of attorneys to fill contract positions. Cheryl graduated from Duke University School of Law with High Honors in May 1991. Prior to going to law school, Cheryl received a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration with Distinction and with Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Most recently, Cheryl was with the firm of Brock, Clay, Wilson & Rogers and specialized in representation of local boards of education. From 1992 to 1996, Cheryl served as Staff Counsel and then Co-General Counsel for the Georgia Association of Educators. While at Brock & Clay and GAE, Cheryl primarily practiced in the areas of employment and personnel law related to public education. Prior to working with the GAE, Cheryl was a commercial litigation associate with Smith, Gambrell & Russell. Prior to joining The Partners Group, Cheryl served as the Attorney Placement Director of the Atlanta office of a national legal recruiting firm specializing in contract and permanent attorney placements.

David S. Gruskin, Esq., Vice President and Managing Partner graduated with honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992 and the University of Georgia School of Law in 1996. At UGA Law, David was Class President and recipient of the prestigious William K. Meadow Award, presented annually to the graduate “who best exemplifies the integrity, sense of responsibility, and high standards of the legal profession and has the keen sense of humor necessary to afford a proper human perspective to the resolution of legal problems.” David practiced litigation at the Savannah firm of Oliver Maner & Gray, and business law/commercial litigation at Gambrell & Stolz in Atlanta. After years of Bar service, David was elected both Secretary of the Younger Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia and Treasurer of Atlanta Council of Young Lawyers in the 2002 Bar elections. He also was appointed Secretary of the University of Georgia Younger Lawyer Alumni Board. David has been a featured columnist for the ATLANTA LAWYER and is Past-Editor of the State Bar of Georgia YLD NEWSLETTER. In 2002, David was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants, an organization committed to the provision of professional and ethical attorney placement service.

J. Richard Young, Esq. is the Director of Business Development and is responsible for corporate and law firm client development. Dick has practiced law for over 20 years. A graduate of Davidson College and Emory University Law School, Dick served for many years as Deputy General Counsel of Primerica Financial Services, Inc., a member of Citigroup. Dick has also been in private practice as both a senior partner of Peterson, Dilliard in Atlanta and as a partner in a white collar criminal defense boutique, Martin & Young. Additionally, Dick was the founding Director of the Federal Defender Program for the Middle District of Alabama. Through his work at Primerica, he has extensive contacts with partners at numerous large law firms in virtually every major metropolitan area of the country as well as with many in-house attorneys. Additionally, he has argued and won a case before the Supreme Court of the United States and has tried over 75 federal cases to judgment.

Kerry A. Lunz, Esq. is an Associate Recruiting Director. She is responsible for selecting attorneys to fill permanent positions.  Kerry received her undergraduate degree in political science from Columbia University and her law degree from Emory University School of Law, where she was a member of Moot Court. She started her career as a litigation associate with Weinstock & Scavo in Atlanta, where she handled commercial litigation, medical malpractice, and products liability matters.  Kerry then worked for Miller & Martin PLLC, a top 250 law firm, where she represented clients in commercial litigation matters and was very active in assisting with attorney recruitment.

Kelly Eulenfeld Malone, Esq. has extensive knowledge of the Atlanta legal community, both from the practice of law and service to the Bar. Kelly graduated with honors from the University of Georgia in 1980 and from Emory University School of Law in 1984. Upon graduation from law school, Kelly served as law clerk to the Honorable Joel J. Fryer, Fulton Superior Court from 1984 through 1986. Kelly began private practice with Nall, Miller, Owens, Hocutt & Howard (now Nall & Miller) in 1987 where she became a partner. She practiced primarily in the areas of Professional Negligence, Product Liability, Medical Malpractice, and Securities Litigation and served as National Product Counsel to Whirlpool Corporation. Kelly tried cases to verdict as lead counsel in state and federal courts in Georgia. In addition, Kelly represented clients as lead counsel in the Georgia and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals. Kelly was elected to the Board of Directors of the Litigation Section of the Atlanta Bar Association for three years and served on the Judicial Selection and Tenure Committee of the Atlanta Bar Association for two years.

Brad Bruner is Director of Global Recruiting. He graduated from Harvard Law School and originally earned both his Masters and Bachelors degrees from Stanford University. A former Fulbright Scholar, Brad has lived in the northeastern, southeastern and western United States as well as Europe, and he brings a global market perspective to his work with candidates and clients. Brad began his legal career as an associate in the San Francisco Bay Area offices of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Fenwick & West LLP. He then jumped into the vibrant Silicon Valley technology scene as a Corporate Counsel for Yahoo! Inc. Brad continued his in-house career as Director of Legal Affairs for GetThere L.P., an internet-based business travel company, before finally becoming a recruiter for a California-based recruiting firm. He brings years of experience recruiting attorneys at all levels in both companies and law firms. Brad has assisted many candidates and clients with long-distance searches involving relocations as well. In addition to English, he is fluent in German and Italian.

Porter McManus is Director of Legal Recruiting – Carolinas, and handles permanent and contract placement in North and South Carolina. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Linguistics and Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, as well as ABA-approved paralegal certification from the National Center for Paralegal Training in Atlanta. He has worked directly in law and/or legal recruiting his entire professional career, initially as a medical malpractice / products liability paralegal with some of Massachusetts’ most prestigious general practice and boutique firms, and since 1997 as a full-time legal recruiter. He has worked in all facets of legal staffing, from the temporary placement of secretaries and paralegals to the orchestration of lateral partner movement and group acquisitions. He brings with him the unique perspective of having worked for both large and small law firms and legal recruiting agencies, and of having encountered virtually every level of legal placement.

Richard M. Rice is Director of Attorney Placement for The Partners Group. He is responsible for recruiting, selecting and placing lateral associates and partners in positions with major law firms and corporations in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and the Washington, D.C. area. Before joining The Partners Group, Richard was Regional Manager for an international collections and recovery software firm. Richard also served for eleven years as President of ATS Systems, Inc., an Atlanta based IT Placement and Consulting Firm. A certified high school and college football official and licensed private pilot, Richard is an alumnus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Donna Park Donna Park is Director of Paralegal and Litigation Support Services. Donna has over 9 years of paralegal recruiting experience in the Atlanta legal market. She is responsible for developing the temporary and permanent paralegal placement services for The Partners Group. In addition, Donna will select and assign coders, clerks, and other litigation support staff for document productions and other projects with law firms and corporate legal departments. Donna graduated from the University of Alabama and worked as a paralegal and recruiting coordinator for a large Tennessee law firm. She then graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Masters Degree in Human Resources. Prior to joining The Partners Group, Donna was the manager of an Atlanta legal recruiting company and prior to that she served as Regional Vice President of a national legal recruiting firm.

Mark E. Hawn is Chairman of The Partners Group and is responsible for the overall growth strategy of the company. As Founder and President of Legal Copies International, Mark started Atlanta Legal Copies in 1988 with five employees and grew the company to twenty-six cities with over twenty five hundred employees and annualized sales of $100 million dollars. Mark was Atlanta’s Entrepreneur of the year in 1993. In 1994, 1995, and 1996 INC Magazine recognized Legal Copies International as one of the fastest growing companies in America.