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Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore Names Monica T. Monday Managing Partner

Monday succeeds G. Michael Pace, Jr. who will continue his practice in business, real estate law

The Roanoke, Virginia law firm of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, LLP has named Monica Taylor Monday as the firm’s Managing Partner, effective Jan. 1, 2013. Monday will succeed G. Michael Pace, Jr., who will continue his law practice at Gentry Locke while pursuing leadership opportunities at the Center for Teaching the Rule of Law, and its flagship program, the Virginia Law Foundation/Virginia Bar Association Rule of Law Project.

Monday is a partner at Gentry Locke, chairs the Appellate practice group, and frequently writes and lectures on appellate issues. In addition to continuing her practice focusing on Appellate Law, Monday will now be responsible for strategic planning for the firm as well as overseeing day-to-day operations. She is the third managing partner in the firm’s nearly 90-year history, following Pace and William R. Rakes, a senior partner with the firm.

“Monica is a highly respected lawyer within our firm and by the bar and judiciary as a whole,” says Rakes. “She will provide the leadership to assure the continued quality representation of our clients and our stature as one of the leading law firms in Virginia.”

A 1991 law graduate of the College of William and Mary, Monday is one of only a few female managing partners of a major law firm in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Nationally, approximately 8 percent of the top 200 law firms have female managing partners.

Before joining Gentry Locke, Monday clerked for the Honorable Lawrence L. Koontz, Jr., former Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and current Senior Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia. She has been named to Virginia Business’ “Legal Elite,” Law & Politics’ “Virginia Super Lawyers” and Best Lawyers in America® publications. She currently serves on The Virginia Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section Council and as Chair of the Appellate Practice Committee of the Virginia State Bar Litigation Section.

“Monica will be an outstanding managing partner for Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore,” adds Pace. “She has served on our Management Committee for several years and knows how the firm operates from top to bottom. Monica has the respect of everyone here. Her character, good judgment, people skills, professionalism and commitment ensure her success. And, she has an excellent reputation among lawyers and judges in Virginia that reflects very well on the firm and everyone here. We are very proud of who and what we are, and Monica is the one to take Gentry Locke onward and upward. I am so pleased she will succeed me, and am very excited about our future.”

The Virginia Bar Association president Hugh M. Fain III congratulated Pace and Monday on their new leadership roles.  “Mike, a former President of the VBA, and Monica, a current member of our Board of Governors, exemplify the professionalism, collegiality and commitment to the legal profession that are hallmarks of our Association,” says Fain.  “It is no surprise to our members to see Mike continuing and expanding his service to the Rule of Law and to see Monica take on the leadership of one of the truly great law firms in the Commonwealth.”

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