Powell Legal Search was founded by John Powell, a former practicing attorney. John received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992 in Psychology and Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He received his law degree from Tulane Law School in 1998. After law school, John joined the Harris County District Attorney's office in Houston, Texas in order to gain trial experience. He then spent several years practicing litigation in Houston with firms ranging in size from an AmLaw 100 firm to a ten-lawyer litigation boutique before finding his true calling as a legal recruiter.

John began his recruiting career in 2004 with the Houston office of Major, Lindsey & Africa, one of the nation’s oldest and largest legal recruiting firms. In 2005, he was recruited to open the Houston office of BCG Attorney Search. In 2006, John formed Powell Legal Search in order to provide the legal community with a more personal level of service than that offered by large recruiting companies.