Our Team

Catherine S. Michaelson founded Michaelson Associates in 1982 and has more than three decades of experience placing partners and associates at law firms and in-house. Since 2003, Harvard Law School has invited her to present programs and advise law students on career development and on the New York legal market. During her decades as a recruiter, Cathy has developed strong personal and professional ties to senior partners and chairmen at preeminent law firms, and executives at in-house legal departments.

In addition to her M.B.A. from Columbia University, Cathy also received a B.A. from Barnard College and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia where she was an International Fellow and managing editor of The Journal of International Affairs. She also attended Princeton University as a Ph.D. student in East Asian History. Past president and director of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of New York, Cathy was treasurer of the Columbia University Alumni Federation and sat on the Alumni Trustee Nominating Committee of Columbia University for six years. Columbia University awarded Cathy its highest honor in 1995, the Alumni Medal for Distinguished Service to Education. She is a member of the Economic Club of New York, the New York Junior League, the Metropolitan Opera Club and the University Club. Cathy was on the Board of Governors of the Off-The-Record Lecture Series (OTR), an eighty-year-old organization affiliated with the Foreign Policy Association in New York City from 2008-2014. During that time, she co-chaired the Speakers Committee for two years and for three years, she was Co-Treasurer and on the Executive Committee.

The American Bar Association interviews Cathy Michaelson about the state of law firm partnerships.
• Click here to see "The End of Partnership", ABA Journal, August 2015

Other News
• Columbia Business School awards Thomas Cerenov the 2023 Benjamin Michaelson Prize, November 2023
• Columbia Business School awards the 2022 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Tejasvi Subramanian, November 2022
• Orrick Adds Life Sciences Adviser and Former Prosecutor Franklin Monsour to White Collar Team, October 21 2021
• Columbia Business School awards the 2021 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Mohammad Kamaly, August 2021
• Columbia Business School awards the 2020 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Adam Meffert, November 2020
• Antitrust litigator Stefan Meisner, joins Crowell & Moring, October 1, 2020
• Leading antitrust partner, Michael Weiner, joins Steptoe & Johnson, September 1, 2020
• High profile White Collar Litigation Partner joins AMLAW 100, June 10, 2020
• Columbia Business School awards the 2019 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Dina Gatoff, November 11, 2019
• Gibson Dunn Nabs Three Bankruptcy Attorneys from Jones Day, October 3, 2019
• Gibson Dunn Nabs Capital Markets Partner From Jones Day, September 25, 2019
• Leading Patent Lawyer Amr O. Aly Joins Jenner & Block, September 4, 2019
• Blank Rome Adds Ex-Pepper Hamilton Fintech Pro Scott Samlin In NY, August 8, 2019
• Leading Securities Litigator and Trial Lawyer John Dellaportas Joins Emmet, Marvin & Martin, LLP, June 24, 2019
• Columbia Business School awards the 2018 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Zenah Hasan at a Fellowship Reception
• Former Head of Bank Regulatory Practice, Thomas Ko, Joins Stroock, June 4, 2018
• Bracewell Bags Project Finance Duo From Pillsbury, New York Law Journal, March 26, 2018
• Placement of a Latin American capital markets expert at a Magic Circle firm’s New York office, February 1, 2018
• Columbia Business School awards the 2017 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Samuel Longair at a Fellowship Reception
• Columbia Business School Women's Week Profile
• We placed a six person VC and Emerging Company team at national firm.
• Thompson Hine Adds Nixon Peabody Litigator To NY Office - Law360, Dec. 19, 2016
• Columbia Business School awards the 2016 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Tiao Guan '17 at a Fellowship Reception
• Dentons Cyber Group Chair Jumps to Cooley - AmLaw, May 4, 2016
• Columbia Business School Awards the 2015 Benjamin Michaelson Prize to Lindsay Delevingne'16 at a Fellowship Reception
• Columbia Business School Interview with Cathy Michaelson

Garwin Leung

Assistant Recruiter/Office Manager/Researcher

Garwin Leung  joined us in the summer of 2021.  He works as a jack of all trades using both his legal and his managerial expertise (and his good sense!). He graduated New York Law School in 2022. He majored in history at the University of Rochester where received his B.A. in 2017.  While we know he will move on to be an associate at a law firm, we are very appreciative of his time at Michaelson Associates.

Researchers

Michaelson Associates has, since its inception, had a very strong research component.  We currently have three third year law students working for us.  One is at NYU Law School and will be going to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in 2023.   Another goes to Columbia Law School and will be going to Sulllivan & Cromwell and  a third one is at New York Law School.  These talented young people do nothing for us but research the legal market and individual law firms.  They also help Catherine Michaelson with her work at Harvard Law School. Our Company spends hundreds of hours every year on these projects which enable us to better service our candidates and clients.