MONICA J. SHILLING, 41

FIRM: Proskauer Rose LLP

LAW SCHOOL: Georgetown University Law Center

CLIENTS: Ares Capital Corp., Ares Management LLC, Bank of America, Gores Group LLC, Lucky Brands Jeans co-founders Gene Montesano and Barry Perlman, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

Monica Shilling vaulted into the top echelons of L.A.’s transactional lawyers with a $909 million deal last year that owed its success in part to a massive blizzard.

Shilling was representing New York private-equity giant Ares Capital Corp. in its bid to acquire Washington, D.C.-based Allied Capital Corp. It was a particularly tough deal because the two companies had completely different management systems that had to be meshed. Meanwhile, another private-equity firm had entered the fray, hoping to acquire Allied Capital, putting pressure on Shilling and her team to get the deal done. Then a snowstorm paralyzed much of the East Coast. But Shilling didn’t let that stop her. She reached key federal regulators at home and managed to wrap up her biggest deal to date.

She decided to pursue law despite an unusual temptation: While doing her junior year abroad, she came close to dropping out to join a touring French acting troupe. But she decided against it.

“I felt I would be letting down my family,” she said, “because I had opportunities in front of me that I felt they didn’t have.”

Shilling first wanted to be a litigator, but grew impatient with the relatively slow pace of corporate law trials and opted for transactions instead.

“I don’t like to waste my time and transaction law tends to go pretty quick because there’s a deadline to get a deal done,” she said.

Shilling is single and likes to travel. On one recent trip to London, she happened upon a jewelry auction at Sotheby’s International and bought a bracelet. When she returned, wearing the bracelet, one of her colleagues called her an “international woman of mystery,” which suits her fine.

“I have friends all over the world,” she said.