Orlans, Moran named winners of #NEXT 'PowerhouseAward' honors

Linda Orlans, founder and executive chair of Orlans PC, and Julie Moran, senior executive counsel of the firm, were named recipients of the inaugural #NEXTPowerhouseAward, honoring the most influential women in the mortgage industry.

Award winners, according to a spokesperson for NEXT, an organization serving the mortgage industry, are “celebrated for being technologically innovative, sharing new ideas, and pushing the limits to keep their companies and the industry moving forward.”

A Detroit native, Orlans is a graduate of Wayne State University and the former Detroit College of Law, now Michigan State University College of Law. She has served as chair of the board of trustees for the MSU law school, where she has been repeatedly honored as a distinguished alum.

“I am thrilled to receive this (NEXT) award,” Orlans said in a statement. “It is an honor to be recognized with such an esteemed group of successful, career-driven women each of whom strives to make a positive impact in our companies, communities, and the industry.”

Orlans has a history of community and charitable work that for years has stretched across metro Detroit. She has served on the board and as fund-raising chair for the Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan, and was a founding member of the Beaumont Hospital Foundation’s First Words Society. She also served as legal counsel and a board member for Beyond Basics, a  support group for disadvantaged children and families in Detroit and Pontiac.

Moran, who has been described as an “innovator and trailblazer in the mortgage and legal industries,” began her career as an attorney at a Boston law firm focusing on transactional real estate. As a partner, she worked with some of the nation’s largest banks and loan servicers; and  was elected the firm’s first female managing partner.

“I am honored to receive this esteemed award from an organization that is focused on advancing women in their careers and professional growth,” Moran said.

In 2005, Moran and Orlans co-founded Women Executives in Banking (WEB) with Miriam Moore of Servicelink. WEB helps women advance their careers through education, coaching, and peer support.

In 2007, the two  founded Orlans Moran PC, a 100 percent women-owned law firm that has quadrupled its market share and number of clients by applying Lean Six Sigma concepts to the foreclosure process.