Lisabeth (“Beth”) Coakley, a Trademark Attorney and Principal at Harness IP in Metropolitan Detroit, has been named to the Michigan Lawyers Weekly “Women in the Law” Class of 2015. The distinction, awarded annually to a very limited number of attorneys statewide, recognizes high-achieving women lawyers who have made meaningful and inspiring contributions to the legal community. Coakley will be honored at a luncheon hosted by Michigan Lawyers Weekly at the Detroit Marriott in Troy on September 10.

Coakley, who brings 33 years of rich in-house and law firm experience to her practice as a trademark attorney, reached a number of career pinnacles this year. Among them, Coakley is the only attorney in Michigan named to Managing Intellectual Property’s “Top 250 U.S. Women in IP” and is a recipient of the American Corporate Counsel Association’s prestigious “Client Choice” international award for adding “real value to clients’ business above and beyond other players in the market.”

As Council Member for the Michigan Bar’s Intellectual Property section, Coakley helps plan bi-annual and annual seminars for the section’s more than 1,000 members and recently worked on the Committee’s creation of a new annual state “Excellence in IP Award.” Coakley also personally arranged the upcoming IP Women’s Lunch that will bring together almost all the women who practice IP law in Michigan.

“From her passion for helping her clients to her enduring efforts to teach by example and empower women and young attorneys practicing IP law, Beth is an exemplary lawyer and a role model for women in the law,” said Monte Falcoff, Principal at Harness IP. “Beth deserves all the recognition bestowed upon her, and we and our clients heartily congratulate her.”

Coakley, who joined the firm in 1993, earned her J.D cum laude from Michigan State University, then Detroit College of Law, in 1981.