Craig Brown is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of the contract attorney industry, a trailblazer who helped establish many of the practices and standards that define the field today. With a career that bridges both high-level legal practice and visionary leadership in staffing and recruiting, he is uniquely positioned as one of the few executives in the staffing industry who has also practiced law at the partner level with a prominent firm. This combination of practical courtroom experience and strategic business acumen has allowed Craig Brown to shape the legal staffing industry from the inside out, helping law firms, corporations, and legal professionals alike navigate the complexities of talent acquisition and placement.
Leadership Across the Lateral Link Family
Craig Brown is currently a Principal of the Lateral Link family of companies, where he plays multiple leadership roles that reflect his breadth of expertise and innovative approach. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Bridgeline Solutions, Craig oversees the company’s nationwide operations in temporary legal placements and permanent support staff placements. Bridgeline Solutions has grown under his leadership to become a trusted one-stop resource for law firms seeking contract attorneys, paralegals, and specialized staff to support both ongoing and high-stakes matters. From corporate transactions to litigation, tax to trusts and estates, and beyond, Craig ensures that Bridgeline delivers elite talent across all practice areas.
Beyond Bridgeline, Craig Brown also serves as a Principal of Cadence Counsel, a certified woman-owned company that specializes in in-house legal placements for corporations. This role underscores his commitment to broadening opportunities for underrepresented groups in the industry while also connecting top legal talent with corporate legal departments that require sophisticated expertise. Additionally, Craig is a Principal at Lateral Link, one of the nation’s leading recruiting firms focused on placing lateral associates and partners within law firms, including group moves and law firm mergers. This trifecta of leadership roles demonstrates Craig’s ability to oversee staffing solutions that touch every dimension of the legal ecosystem, law firms, corporations, and individual attorneys alike.
Early Legal Career and Law Firm Partnership
Craig’s perspective on the staffing industry is enriched by his distinguished legal career. After graduating cum laude from the State University of New York at Albany with a degree in Business Administration and earning his J.D. cum laude from the American University Washington College of Law, Craig Brown began his career in public service. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Labor, gaining early exposure to high-level legal work and the inner workings of government.
He then joined the storied firm Kaye Scholer (now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer) as an associate in antitrust and litigation. From there, Craig advanced to become a litigation partner with McLaughlin & Stern, where he specialized in litigation and sports law. His work included one of the most high-profile sports cases in modern history: representing the U.S. Figure Skating Association in its dispute with Tonya Harding during the Winter Olympics. This experience not only cemented Craig’s reputation as a talented litigator but also gave him firsthand insight into the demands placed on legal professionals navigating complex and high-pressure matters, an insight that would later inform his approach to staffing solutions.
Pioneering Legal Staffing Companies
Craig Brown transitioned from practicing law to building and leading some of the most influential legal staffing firms in the industry. In 1999, he became President of Elaine P. Dine Temporary Attorneys, Paralegals & Compliance, where he spent eight years advancing the firm’s reputation for providing high-quality legal staffing solutions.
From there, he co-founded and led multiple ventures under the Strategic Legal umbrella, including Strategic eSourcing, Strategic Legal Solutions, and SQ Global, a joint venture with QuisLex, one of the leading legal process outsourcing companies based in Hyderabad, India. During this period, Craig deepened his expertise in managing both domestic and international legal staffing operations, paving the way for the globalization of contract attorney services.
In 2010, Craig Brown co-founded B3 Legal, which was later acquired by OmniVere. As President of OmniVere Legal Services, he oversaw the company’s staffing and managed document review division. This role highlighted Craig’s ability to scale operations and build companies that could meet the increasingly sophisticated and global demands of law firms and corporations.
By 2017, Craig returned to entrepreneurship as the CEO and Co-Founder of Bridgeline Solutions, now part of the Lateral Link family. Over nearly a decade, he has built Bridgeline into one of the most respected names in the legal staffing industry, with offices spanning major cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Palo Alto, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.
A Visionary in Legal Staffing
What distinguishes Craig Brown from many of his peers is his ability to marry real-world legal experience with a pioneering vision for the staffing industry. Having sat in the shoes of an associate, partner, and litigator handling nationally significant cases, he understands the caliber of talent and expertise that law firms require to succeed. This perspective allows him to design staffing solutions that are not only practical but also aligned with the strategic and financial goals of his clients.
Craig Brown has also been at the forefront of several industry innovations, from helping develop the best practices that now define contract attorney placements to shaping the expansion of managed document review services. His leadership reflects a commitment to ensuring that law firms and corporations can access flexible, cost-effective, and highly skilled talent while providing attorneys and support staff with meaningful career opportunities.
Legacy and Impact
Over the course of his career, Craig Brown has left an indelible mark on the legal profession. He is not only a builder of companies but also a builder of industries, helping shape contract legal staffing into the robust, respected field it is today. His work has created opportunities for thousands of legal professionals while enabling firms and corporations to meet their clients’ needs with agility and excellence.
With decades of experience, a history of innovation, and a proven track record of leadership, Craig Brown remains one of the most influential figures in the world of legal staffing and placement. Whether guiding Bridgeline Solutions into new markets, supporting corporate clients through Cadence Counsel, or advancing the work of Lateral Link, Craig continues to set the standard for what legal staffing can achieve.