Twenty years after graduating from 窪蹋勛圖厙 School of Law, Michele Connell, Global Managing Partner of international law firm Squire Patton Boggs, will be her alma maters 2023 graduation ceremony speaker. This years law school commencement will take place from 9-10:30 a.m. in the Veale Convocation, Recreation and Athletic Center on Saturday, May 20.
Michele is an alumni leader, having served as a member of our law schools Visiting Committee, Co-Chair of its Womens Law and Leadership Conference, and a member of its Society of Benchers the Law Schools alumni hall of fame.
Before attending 窪蹋勛圖厙 Law, Michele was a foreign service officer with the US Department of State, serving as a diplomat in Warsaw, Poland and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Michele received the Meritorious Honor Award from the US government for her distinguished service.
After graduating from 窪蹋勛圖厙 Law, Michele joined Squire Sanders and Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) law firm, where her practice focused on international mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, compliance and securities law matters. She has completed transactions in more than 20 countries and was elected partner at Squire in 2012.
In 2015, Michele was appointed to serve as Managing Partner of the Cleveland Office, the firms second largest office with over 110 lawyers. She is the first woman and youngest partner to ever serve in that role since the firm was founded in 1890.
In 2022, Squire Patton Boggs tapped Michelle to serve as the firms Global Managing Partner. In this role, she oversees lawyers and policy advisors spread across 34 Squire offices in the Americas, the Middle East, Germany, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Michele is an advocate for women in the workplace and serves on the board of DirectWomen, a national organization that works to increase the representation of women lawyers on corporate boards. She also serves on the boards of University Hospital Health Systems, the Greater Cleveland Partnership (Clevelands 14,000+ member chamber of commerce) and the United Way of Greater Cleveland.
Michele is recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer, a distinction honoring the top lawyers in the state and a Trailblazer by the American Lawyer; named a Women Worth Watching by Profiles in Diversity Journal; cited as a leading lawyer in the International Financial Law Reviews Financial & Corporate: United States; and has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Latin America by the International Financial Law Reviews Energy and Infrastructure: Latin America Guide.
窪蹋勛圖厙 School of Law is excited to hear Micheles inspiring remarks on May 20. The ceremony will also be webcast.