MLA Has Been Exclusively Retained by The Episcopal Church to Recruit Its Chief Legal Officer

Hanover, MD (July 7, 2020) — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world's leading legal search firm, today announced that it has been retained by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, better known as The Episcopal Church, (“TEC”) to recruit its chief legal officer. The search is being led by Deborah Ben-Canaan, partner, In-House Recruiting; Stephen Springer, partner, Partner Practice Group; and Edina Beasley, managing director, In-House Recruiting, all of MLA’s Washington, D.C., office.

The CLO will act as the key legal advisor to TEC, responsible for providing high-quality legal advice on all secular legal matters in which TEC is a party or has an interest.  A broad based, generalist capacity and background will be vital to supporting the diversified legal issues encountered in an international organization the size and breadth of TEC. Responsibilities will range from hands-on business law matters, pre-litigation and litigation management, human resources, employment law and non-profit law, to defining and developing legal policies and procedures, legal operating guidelines, and conducting legal compliance reviews across an organization with multiple stakeholders.

“We are honored to partner with The Episcopal Church to find its chief legal officer,” said Deborah Ben-Canaan. “The ideal candidate will be highly collaborative, business minded and a politically savvy leader with the utmost integrity, high emotional intelligence and a demonstrated interest in a mission-oriented and/or nonprofit organization, ideally with some exposure to and understanding of the internal laws governing religious organizations.”   

The Episcopal Church, one of the oldest religious denominations in the United States, is a Christian church in the Anglican tradition, founded at the time of the American Revolution. Today the Church includes just under 2 million members, in the United States and 17 other nations.