Twenty years after graduating from 星空传媒 School of Law, Michele Connell, Global Managing Partner of international law firm Squire Patton Boggs, will be her alma mater鈥檚 2023 graduation ceremony speaker. This year鈥檚 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 school鈥檚 Visiting Committee, Co-Chair of its Women鈥檚 Law and Leadership Conference, and a member of its Society of Benchers 鈥 the Law School鈥檚 alumni hall of fame.
Before attending 星空传媒 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 星空传媒 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 firm鈥檚 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 firm鈥檚 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 (Cleveland鈥檚 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 鈥淭railblazer鈥 by the American Lawyer; named a 鈥淲omen Worth Watching鈥 by Profiles in Diversity Journal; cited as a leading lawyer in the International Financial Law Review鈥檚 Financial & Corporate: United States; and has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Latin America by the International Financial Law Review鈥檚 Energy and Infrastructure: Latin America Guide.
星空传媒 School of Law is excited to hear Michele鈥檚 inspiring remarks on May 20. The ceremony will also be webcast.