Elizabeth A. Orelup

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March began in a remarkable way for Elizabeth A. Orelup.

With her partner, Kathie Buono, Orelup led a team of attorneys from Quarles & Brady LLP in Milwaukee and Chicago that closed on a $72 million transaction. Every member of the deal team was female.

Orelup is a partner and former coordinator of the firm’s Commercial Financial Services team. She represents lenders and borrowers in acquisition financing and other commercial loan transactions, workouts and Chapters 7 and 11 bankruptcies. Several of her clients are Fortune 500 companies.

It’s a recession-proof practice, she says, because, “Either we’re making new loans, or we’re working them out.” But aside from stability of business, she says that what makes it such an appealing area is that every deal is different.

“In the finance area, the substantive law is the same, but you have to apply it to a different industry,” Orelup says. “So I learn a lot about different kinds of businesses — service industry versus heavy manufacturing, for example. I enjoy the ongoing learning and problem solving that’s an essential part of everything I do.”

As a newly-minted lawyer in 1980, Orelup never thought the day would come when she’d be part of a team of all women lawyers completing a multi-million dollar deal. But that day has come — and it’s due, at least in part, to the efforts of Orelup herself, and others like her who have made promoting the success of other women one of their life’s missions.

Orelup recently joined the steering committee of Milwaukee Women Inc., which promotes gender diversity on boards and management teams of businesses. She is also a longtime member of Professional Dimensions, which gave Quarles its Pathfinder Award last year for its efforts to support the careers of women, largely due to Orelup’s efforts.

She was a director and is a past-president of Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee. And, she was a leader in establishing her firm’s Women’s Forum, an affinity group, and was one of the organizers of the first-ever retreat for the women lawyers at Quarles last year.

“I’ve always been interested in the success of women in all walks of life,” she says.

“Maybe it’s self interest, or something else, but I’ve always enjoyed working with other women, and problem solving with them using a collaborative approach.”

Rather than seeing a situation where many women are competing for a spot on the committee or board, Orelup prefers to view it as a collaborative effort.