About Us

Garrison & Sisson (“G&S”) is Washington, DC’s premier attorney search firm. When you work with Garrison & Sisson, you benefit from aligning with Washington, DC’s most powerful, respected, connected, and trusted attorney recruiters.

Since 1986, G&S recruiters (all attorneys) have placed in excess of 1000 attorneys at law firms, including all of Washington, DC’s 50 largest law firm offices and nearly every elite boutique, as well as at public and private corporations in and outside of the region.

Drawing on over 75 years of collective attorney recruiting experience, G&S recruiters offer encyclopedic knowledge of the Washington, DC metropolitan legal community. In recognition of our expertise, G&S recruiters have lectured on the DC legal market at numerous leading law schools in the country, including Harvard Law School, Georgetown Law, University of Michigan Law School, and The George Washington University Law School. G&S recruiters also frequently present at industry conferences including those for NALP, the Washington Area Legal Recruitment Administrators Association (WALRAA), the DC Bar, Women’s Bar Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel. G&S recruiters contribute articles to and/or are frequently quoted in the media, including the Legal Times/National Law Journal, American Lawyer, Legal Bisnow, Law360, Above the Law, Washington Business Journal, Washingtonian, The Washington Post, and the UVA Lawyer.

Our basic philosophy and approach to recruiting provide the foundation of our success:

• We are straight-shooters.
• We work extremely hard.
• We have high expectations.
• We focus on the small details.
• We always study the market.
• We don’t cut corners.
• We are discreet.
• We love what we do.
• We take our work, not ourselves, seriously.
• We have fun (most of the time).

G&S has three divisions: (1) Partners and Practice Groups; (2) Associates; and (3) In-House. Martha Ann Sisson and Dan Binstock (who joined G&S in September 2010 from another national search firm) head our Partner and Practice Group Division. Matt Schwartz (who also joined G&S in September 2010 from another national search firm) heads our Associate Division. Representing public and private companies, consulting firms, non-profit organizations and trade associations, Nancy Palermo and Martha Ann Sisson head our In-House Division.

Our recruiting services extend beyond traditional sourcing and presentation of candidates. We work with our law firm and in-house clients throughout the recruitment process, from preliminary search strategy planning to the final stages of salary negotiations and acceptance. We help clients anticipate and successfully navigate (or entirely avoid) the unanticipated pitfalls that inevitably occur during the recruiting process. As a result, our clients receive an advantage when attracting and competing for highly qualified candidates.

The tenure of G&S recruiters averages twelve years with the Firm, and many client relationships have been ongoing since 1986. G&S was ranked among the top three attorney recruiting firms in the United States in the most recent survey of attorney recruiting firms conducted by a leading, global legal journal, and was recognized in the most current American Lawyer survey conducted on attorney recruiters as the best attorney search firm in Washington, DC. Additionally, G&S is certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women’s Business Enterprise.