Where We Began
Alignment Recruiting began in 2016 after its founder, Liz Hudson Proodian, spent several years as a legal recruiter wondering how she could better serve both her candidates and their potential employers. She had been successfully recruiting attorneys across the country since 2011, with two different recruiting agencies, and knew it was time to change the recruiting mold. Liz’s main mission in forming Alignment Recruiting was to truly be a valuable ally to both her candidates and clients. She wanted to take the focus off of high volume candidate moves and instead shift it to high quality moves where both parties would be happy in the long run. Building and fostering long-term relationships with candidates and clients became the cornerstone on which Alignment Recruiting was founded and continues to be our mission today.
Liz Hudson Proodian
Liz didn’t take the straight and narrow path to becoming a recruiter…it’s been quite a ride! From marketing professional, to Big Law associate, to in-house counsel, to legal recruiter, to business owner, she’s made the last two decades eventful as she’s moved from Michigan to Gainesville, FL to San Diego to Chicago to Los Angeles and now to Tampa. She keeps close ties in all those places and loves having the ability to recruit across the country.
As many of her candidates and clients will tell you, Liz isn’t your average recruiter. She’s got the Midwest personality, the LA dreams, the analytical skills of an attorney, the OCD of the oldest child from a big family, and the ability to think outside of the box like any good marketing professional.
Prior to this crazy, winding career path, Liz earned her BS in Advertising from the University of Florida and her JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. Liz can’t seem to decide between living in the Midwest, on the West Coast, or in the Sunshine State, but (for now) has put down roots near her family in Tampa, Florida. A big fan of HGTV and a glutton for punishment, she sold her first century-old house that she restored (largely on her own) and recently bought her second hundred year-old bungalow, which she and her husband have lovingly (with some cursing and a lot of outside help) restored.
Outside of the office, Liz can be found hanging out with friends anywhere that serves wine, bribing her nephews for hugs, making macarons with her “Little Sister” from the Big Brother Big Sister program, watching any Florida Gators, Michigan State Spartans, or Tampa Bay (Champa Bay?) sporting event, and organizing chaos with her husband and their 3 kids. She is also desperate to achieve her long-term goal of visiting every continent and each US state. She finished the US states part of the challenge in early 2020 with a surprisingly fantastic trip to Fargo, but one continent remains on her bucket list. Anyone have recommendations for Antarctica?
Lacie Marshall
Lacie Marshall joined Alignment Recruiting in 2019 after nearly 20 years of leading legal recruiting and professional development for regional and international law firms.
Lacie most recently served as Director of Legal Recruiting and Professional Development nation-wide at Loeb & Loeb, where she focused on firm-wide strategic attorney hiring and career coaching as well as design and implementation of training and mentoring programs. Associates and partners alike have relied on Lacie as a sounding board, voice of reason, trusted advisor, and friend. Her academic background of a BA in Business Management and an MBA with Management Specialty, coupled with her decades of on-site work in the legal field, give her a great blend of skills for legal recruiting.
Although Lacie had planned to continue her career on the law firm side, a vacation to Ireland changed everything. Lacie met her husband, an Irishman, while on a road trip through the countryside. Following a whirlwind romance, they were married in early 2018 and Lacie relocated to Ireland shortly thereafter. Lacie continued working at Loeb remotely for nearly a year following her relocation and, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, most of her colleagues didn’t realize she was in a different time zone. But even being the seasoned traveler that Lacie is, the “commute” back-and-forth to LA and NY each month wasn’t a long-term solution.
Thankfully, a close friend and founder of Alignment Recruiting, Liz Hudson, had a great idea…join her as a recruiter on the other side! Afterall, who better to recruit attorneys for law firms and companies than someone who has been on the inside for nearly 20 years? Lacie and Liz had worked together over the years on placements at Loeb and both share a similar approach to the process – honesty, integrity, and fun – along with a serious passion in their personal lives for travel and wine.
Lacie is a bit of an adventurer and will try almost anything once – skydiving, bungee jumping, abseiling off a 100 ft. waterfall. For the better part of the last decade, SCUBA and triathlons dominated her spare time. As a certified PADI and SDI open water instructor, Lacie learned a lot about patience and empathy while teaching adults the skills they needed to be safe and have fun underwater. She has also completed two Ironman 70.3 triathlons.
After 20 years in Los Angeles, Lacie is embracing life in the Irish countryside. She’s been busy remodeling the home she shares with her husband, toddler, and puppy, as well as flexing her culinary skills, and exploring all that Ireland has to offer.
Elissa Podolsky
A veteran recruiter with over 11 years of experience, Elissa Podolsky joined Alignment Recruiting in 2020.
Before that, she was with a top New York City-based search firm, where she focused primarily on the Greater New York area but also placed candidates at firms and companies as far away as California and Beijing, China. She has worked with associates, counsel and partners as well as in-house counsel at all levels.
Before embarking on her recruiting career Elissa was an employment lawyer. She graduated from Yale College and Columbia Law School.
Elissa enjoys spending time with her family (which usually means playing with cars, trucks, and buses with her toddlers), volunteering, going to the gym, and taking long walks.