Every month on DW Women in Law Blog, we will profile one of our female attorneys to give you a perspective of who they are and the work they do.
When members of the legal profession gather on September 27th at the Troy Marriott to honor Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s 2012 Women in the Law honorees, one of those women being recognized will be Dickinson Wright’s own Monica J. Labe.
Monica is a member of the firm’s Management Group (overseeing Finance and Marketing for the Firm) and was resident in the Detroit office for over a decade and has been working in our Oakland County office since 2004. She has built a thriving and dynamic real estate practice on a national scale since joining DW in 1993. The political science major at University of Michigan saw a career in law as the natural progression from her college days. After graduating from Northwestern University Law School and practicing law in Los Angeles for a couple of years, Monica and her husband decided to make the move back to the Midwest to be closer to their family and Monica found a home in Dickinson Wright.
“I like to put deals together and end up with a positive result,” Monica says while discussing why she decided to focus on a real estate practice. “It is very fulfilling when I can see projects literally from the ground up--buying the land, working on its development, financing it and then leasing the project. It is a gratifying experience when you can see the full spectrum of your work develop over time.”
Over the years, Monica has been instrumental in major projects throughout Detroit including the renovations to the Michigan Opera Theatre in the 1990s. She also enjoys serving as lead real estate counsel for a large Tier 1 Automotive Supplier and its related companies, for managing the national real estate legal work for one of Detroit’s Big 3 and for representing a local land bank authority in its neighborhood stabilization efforts. Because of the long standing client relationships she has had with these clients as well as several others, she has a unique perspective to really understand a client’s real estate legal needs. As a result, she brings consistency and efficiency in her approach on projects and her clients rely on her (and the team of lawyers she has fostered) to service their legal needs.
Now all of those years of hard work and involvement in the community led to a selection as one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2012 Women in the Law honorees.
“I was really happy when I found out about this selection. I am extremely honored to be in the company of so many talented women lawyers,” Monica says. “You do your job well for your clients, the Firm and your own satisfaction, but getting recognition of that work with this group of women lawyers is extremely rewarding.”
Her family will be there to celebrate her accomplishments on the 27th along with Dickinson Wright colleagues. To learn more about Monica Labe and her practice, click on her biography here.
