It would be impossible to summarize Janet Welch’s award-winning, glass-ceiling breaking career in the space limited; suffice it to say that she is a legend in Michigan’s legal community and across the country.
She began her legal career in 1988 – the same year the Society was founded – by clerking for Michigan Supreme Court justice Robert P. Griffin. This was following by further employment at the Supreme Court – first as Executive Analyst and then as Counsel – before she was hired by the State Bar of Michigan to serve as its General Counsel in 2000. In 2007, she was hired as Executive Director, the first woman to lead the Bar.
The Society was fortunate to catch Janet after she retired from the State Bar in 2022 and had the time to serve as officer of the Historical Society. She lives in Northern Michigan and continues to advise “bar associations and government entities on the provision of legal services in an evolving market and changing regulatory environment.”