Cortland Kelly Grynwald

Vice President

Learn more about Cortland in her Pearson Partners Profile.

Cortland Kelly Grynwald excels in legal, risk and compliance search for public, private and municipal enterprises. As an attorney herself, she understands the nuances of how legal and quasi-legal leadership succeeds in corporate environments. She leverages this insight in serving her clients and has been doing so nationally for over a decade, building a broad national network of contacts.

Cortland began her legal career as a practicing attorney for over six years, beginning with the firm Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A., in Orlando, Florida, where she gained diverse experience in land use, commercial real estate leasing, commercial and real estate litigation, bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and commercial loan workout matters. Cortland moved to Dallas in 2002 and joined the prestigious law firm of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, LLP, focusing on bankruptcy and commercial litigation.

In 2005, Cortland leveraged her experience practicing law to become a legal recruiter and spent several years performing permanent placement searches for corporate and law firm clients and building an extensive national network. Throughout that time, she developed strong relationships with clients and candidates alike, believing strongly in the tenets of integrity, transparency, thoroughness and responsiveness. Most recently, Cortland has specialized in legal services search, providing in-house clients with flexible talent, managed services (such as e-discovery and contract abstraction projects) and legal operations solutions.

Cortland is actively involved with Attorneys Serving the Community, where she has served in many leadership positions on several committees, including co-chair of the meeting arrangements committee in 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, lead co-chair in 2015–2016 and charity selection committee member in multiple years. Cortland earned a juris doctor degree from University of Virginia School of Law, where she is active in the school’s alumni activities. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of fine arts degree in theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Why did you feel this was the right field for you? What do you love about your job?

I felt that becoming a legal recruiter was the perfect blend of the left-brained and right-brained attributes that made up the balance of my personality. I could be both creative and outgoing in developing business via networking and attending events and social functions, while still applying my “lawyer brain” through writing projects and analytical thought in assessing candidates and consulting with clients regarding departmental needs. I love that nothing in my job ever feels stale and that I’m constantly learning, growing and improving. No two days are ever the same and I am empowered to build an amazing practice with such an impressive team here at Pearson!

What are some highlights of your career so far? Tell us about your best days or proudest moments.

My proudest moments stem from bonding with companies and legal departments where I’ve become ingrained as part of their team when hiring decisions arise. To know that I’m their go-to search consultant because none other knows their corporate or team culture better is a badge of honor. I strive to develop a practice with Pearson Partners where I become this kind of valued resource to PPI’s clients for legal and quasi-legal needs in addition to other C-suite searches. I would be truly proud to become a partner that is intrinsic to PPI clients’ search processes because of the quality of my contributions.

What motto do you live by?

Knowledge is power.