Squire Patton Boggs names Michele Connell its first female managing partner of the Cleveland office
Updated: Jan. 11, 2019, 10:35 p.m. | Published: Aug. 31, 2015, 9:25 p.m.
By Janet H. Cho, The Plain Dealer
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Michele L. Connell is the next managing partner of Squire Patton Boggs' Cleveland office, and the first woman to serve in that role at any regional office. She will oversee the firm's second-largest U.S. office in Cleveland with about 110 lawyers.
(Squire Patton Boggs)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Squire Patton Boggs law firm has appointed Michele L. Connell its next managing partner of the Cleveland office, the first woman ever to serve in that role -- in any U.S. regional office -- at the global law firm that traces its roots to Squire Sanders in 1890.
Connell will eventually replace David S. Goodman, who has been the Cleveland office's managing partner for nine years and "will now focus his attention more exclusively on his public finance practice," according to a written announcement.
Connell and Goodman will serve as co-managing partners until March 2016, when she will perform the job solo.
"In the years that I have known Michele, she has proven to be an exceptional lawyer and a highly regarded, natural leader whose experience, integrity and commitment to the community will continue to be our firm's storied history in Cleveland," said Squire Patton Boggs' Chairman and Global Chief Executive Mark J. Ruehlmann, in a statement.
"It is with deep respect and admiration that I thank David for his service to the firm. He has guided one of our largest offices through a tremendous period of growth for our firm, while also continuing our great legacy of civic responsibility," he said.
Squire Patton Boggs, formed in May 2014 by the merger of Cleveland megafirm Squire Sanders with Patton Boggs, a Washington, D.C., lobbying powerhouse, is now one of the world's 25 largest law firms in terms of lawyers, with 44 offices in 21 countries. The Cleveland office, with 110 lawyers, is the firm's second largest U.S. office, after the one in Washington, D.C., with 169 lawyers.
Connell said in a written statement that "Under David's guidance our Cleveland office has maintained its traditionally strong commitment to civic engagement while remaining a critical hub within our firm's expanding global platform. I'm very much looking forward to this new challenge and carrying forward a great legacy of this exciting period in the history of our firm."
Connell, a member of Squire Patton Boggs' Global Corporate Practice, is also coordinator of the firm's Great Lakes Business Initiative and a member of the firm's Latin America Executive Committee. Her practice is concentrated 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 in 2012.
Connell is an advocate for women in the workplace, and serves on the boards of University Circle Inc. and Towards Employment, which empowers and trains people to maintain self-sufficiency through employment. She is on the United Way of Greater Cleveland's Women's Leadership Council and is chair of the Case Western Reserve Women's Law & Leadership Conference.
She earned her bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University, and her law degree from Case Western Reserve University, where she was valedictorian, summa cum laude, and executive contributing editor of Case Western Reserve Law Review.
Before she went to law school, Connell was a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, and served as a diplomat in Warsaw, Poland, and Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
"Throughout Michele's career, she has proven to be the embodiment of so many of the qualities that we hold up as important within our firm," Goodman said in a statement. "Her leadership, judgement, global perspective, and commitment to service make her an excellent choice for this role."
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