John Michael Associates

John Michael Associates
Our People

John Michael Associates has earned the reputation of being able to bring in the difficult-to-find candidate and complete the hard-to-fill search. Clients have remained with us for years, assigning us the majority of their top searches. Here are the firm’s primary client contacts:

Gary Fossett, CEO of John Michael Associates, has worked with over 250 law firms and corporations. In the early 1970s, he worked with a venture capital company. In the mid-to late-70s, he served as Director of Marketing and Sales Training at Arthur Young’s International Training Center in Reston, Virginia. In 1980, he established a market research and strategic consulting firm for law and accounting firms. This company also developed and financed one of the first software marketing programs for professional service firms. For the past 12 years, he has worked in John Michael Associates as consultant and executive search advisor for law firms and companies with U.S. and international operations. His academic background includes graduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and the Harvard Business School.

Brad Toynbee, Principal of John Michael Associates, has over 17 years experience in executive recruiting, training and development. During his tenure with John Michael Associates, Brad has represented law firms and corporations in both retained and contingent assignments. In doing so, Brad has successfully managed multiple placements of individual attorneys as well as working with group acquisitions. Prior to joining John Michael Associates, Brad directed a regional force of 46 recruiters for 35 offices in the Midwest and Northeast. Brad also served as a Chief Operating Officer for the United States Naval Academy. Brad retired as an officer from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1998. Brad holds an undergraduate degree from Portland State University and a graduate degree from Central Michigan University.

Andrea Persinger, Recruitment and Placement Director, has 14 years experience in "primary contact" interviewing. During the past nine years, she has concentrated totally on identifying and qualifying candidates for John Michael Associates’ legal search activities. In addition, she is responsible for the company’s internal research activities and proprietary data base development. And, she has conducted phone interviews with over 2,000 corporate counsel regarding their legal needs. She holds a degree from James Madison University.

Kathy Skillman, Search Consultant, is a seasoned phone interviewer. She has more than 12 years experience in business to client phone interviewing. For almost nine years, she worked as a primary client contact interviewer in a major service industry. For more than two years, Kathy has worked with John Michael Associates in primary contact phone interviews recruiting candidates for law firms and corporations. She holds a degree from Purdue University.

John Michael Associates is a member in good standing with the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and supports its Code of Ethics.