Justice Mary Beth Kelly is the second former justice serving on the Society Board, joining the Board in 2016.
After earning her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan at Dearborn and her law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School, Kelly practiced commercial litigation with Dickinson Wright.
In 1999, she was appointed to the Wayne County Circuit Court, where she served for 11 years. In 2002, she was appointed chief judge of the court, making her the first woman to lead that bench. She served in that position through 2007, focusing on budget deficit reduction, timely dockets, jail overcrowding, and the court’s Family Division. Under her leadership, the Family Division doubled in size to devote more judicial resources to cases concerning children and families. She was praised as “one of the most effective chief judges in the history of the Michigan Court system” by then-Chief Justice Clifford Taylor.
In 2010, Kelly was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court, where she served until October 1, 2015, retiring to rejoin the private sector as an attorney with Bodman PLC. She was elected to the 3rd Circuit Court in 2020.