Melinda Wallman Appointed Global Practice Leader and Chairman of Macrae

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Melinda Wallman as Global Practice Leader and Chairman of Macrae. She succeeds our founder, Joe Macrae, who will continue to run his active practice involving partner and team moves and office openings with a particular focus on California. Melinda brings more than two decades of experience leading partners and team moves across major global financial and legal centers. She joined Macrae in 2019 to launch our London office and has been instrumental in the firm’s transatlantic growth. Widely regarded as one of the leading partner recruiters across the industry, Melinda is known for her strategic insight, strong market relationships, and ability to guide complex moves with discretion and impact.

In 2001 Joe founded Macrae with a vision of redefining legal search. Over the past two decades, he has been instrumental in building a transatlantic team of expert recruiters who are deeply embedded across the four key global legal markets. Under his leadership, Macrae has become the trusted advisor to the world’s most prestigious law firms and leading partners considering a move, with a track record of helping to shape the legal landscape through transformative partner and group placements and office openings in multiple jurisdictions.

As Macrae continues to evolve in step with the legal industry and the partner role itself, Melinda is ideally positioned to lead the firm into its next phase. Her international experience, strategic insight, and deep understanding of law firm dynamics will ensure Macrae remains the go-to partner search firm for elite practices around the world. Melinda will also lead the firm’s evolution in the technology space, particularly through Macrae+, our proprietary platform that uses data and market intelligence to help law firms make smarter, faster, and more strategic decisions about partner hiring.