Meet Us

Katie McMahan, Owner, Recruiter, Goat Lover

I’m a small business owner and legal recruiter with an extensive career as a trial paralegal, but loving what I do is my competitive edge. It means I bring high energy and servant leadership to every professional I meet.

I’m not interested in playing musical chairs – moving you from one job to the next for a quick commission. I want to inspire you to care more about yourself and your career. I want to challenge you to better understand your market value and long-term professional goals.

Since founding LMS in 2010, our focus has been recruiting for law firms of all sizes around the country, and as we’ve recruited, we’ve coached. We’ve coached candidates who we couldn’t place and even those we did place. Law firms pay us to find the best, but even the best need help through the hiring process.

Because mentoring has been so integral to our work, we now offer video coaching to candidates on resume perfection, and we’re building a library of videos to cover so much more.

When I’m not working, you’ll find me with my husband and our 10-year-old daughter on our hobby farm. We have 2 horses, 2 goats, 2 dogs, 2 barn cats, and absolutely no chickens per my husband to whom I promised no goats or horses. 😊

Legal background

Katie is a former eDiscovery and litigation paralegal whose 15 years of legal experience give her the discernment and critical eye to recruit top talent around the country. For her clients, this means a strict vetting process and higher standards and expectations for those who say they are qualified. For candidates, it is an opportunity to work with a recruiter who has done the job and been in the hot seat. She offers empathy and advocacy during the interview process that is balanced with candid feedback and advice to encourage accountability and career growth.

Katie has worked for private law firms and in-house legal divisions as a trial paralegal on hundreds of cases. She has collaborated with lawyers, business and I.T. managers, engineers, expert witnesses, and records managers of law firms and major corporate entities in the private and public sectors. She has direct experience with the electronic discovery reference model (E.D.R.M.), eDiscovery databases and processing terabytes of information, billing and case management software, docketing programs, e-filings, motion writing, document productions, open records requests, and has prepared for dozens of trials and attended several in multiple jurisdictions. Practice areas of experience include construction, employment, medical malpractice and personal injury, insurance defense, and water law.

Katie's legal experience also includes marketing consulting and process improvement for solo practitioners and mid-sized firms. She wrote training manuals on case management procedures and implemented practice standards and new software programs to minimize administrative work and boost billable productivity.

Lindsay Barnhardt

Having spent 10 years in the salon industry as a stylist and small-business-manager-turned owner, Lindsay Barnhardt brings an entrepreneurial spirit and fresh perspective to our legal recruitment team.

Lindsay supports candidates at the career crossroads she faced in 2018 before switching industries and joining LMS. She is relatable, authentic, and relentlessly works to help match candidates with their ideal careers.

Lindsay earned her B.A. from Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon and receives ongoing legal-specific training to learn the requirements and demands of niche practice areas. She combines her formal education with her intuitive ability to identify uniquely qualified candidates.

Having been a small business owner, Lindsay isn’t a stranger to our company’s growth challenges and the need to wear many hats. From operational input to process-improvement and I.T. trouble-shooting, she has invaluable experience and work ethic.

Lindsay has two small children so she has no free time, but in theory, she enjoys sleeping, cooking, running, eating out at the many diverse and delicious Bay Area restaurants, and arguing with her enormous family.

Kristen Thibodeaux

Kristen comes to LMS with several years of previous legal recruiting experience having worked a full cycle recruiting desk supporting law firms in the Greater New Orleans Area. Kristen earned her undergraduate degrees in Biological Sciences and Psychology from McNeese State University as well as her Master of Science in Criminal Justice. She would describe her recruiting style as a combination of gut instinct, education and experience that assist her in making the best possible matches for candidates and clients. She brings an inquisitive nature and a tenacious attitude to the recruiting industry and her candidates know they are in good hands.

One of Kristen’s favorite quotes is “There are many paths to reach the top of the mountain,” which adequately explains her path from her beginnings in medicine to today working as a legal recruiter. Having spent the better part of a decade considering a career in medicine and working in and tangentially to physician’s offices, Kristen is no stranger to asking probing questions to get more information. This skill helped her when she transitioned from the medical to legal field and helped her grow into an accomplished legal assistant and recruiter.

Currently, Kristen resides in the Greater New Orleans Area and enjoys attending Fried Chicken Fest, Po-Boy Fest and more. While festivals are great, she also enjoys spending time at home reading, strength training, cooking, baking, playing video games, watching the latest season of The Mandolorian, and spending time with Horatio (her cat).