“Our Global Board
of Directors
is majority
diverse,” says
Connell. And that
diversity, and
the people and
points of view it
includes, are good
for everyone.
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For 15 years, Connell has been firmly rooted in Shaker Heights, but she, her family, and her
professional life are still enthusiastically engaged with the world.
Squire Patton Boggs was founded in Cleveland in 1890 and now has more than 1,500 attorneys across
the globe. As head of the Cleveland office, Connell ensures that the gears run smoothly, everything from hiring
and advancement decisions for the 110-attorney office to overseeing the large administrative staff, much of which
serves not only the Cleveland office but also the firm as a whole.
Law may have a reputation as a stodgy, clubby occupation, but that’s changing. Women are advancing
more than ever – 10 of the 12 partners just announced by the firm are women – and the firm is also focused on
advancing diversity more generally. “Our Global Board of Directors is majority diverse,” says Connell. And that
diversity, and the people and points of view it includes, are good for everyone.
Besides her administrative focus on law firm management, Connell continues her practice as a corporate
mergers and acquisitions attorney, and also represents Squire as a member of several local nonprofit boards.
Connection to and service to Cleveland are a high priority for the firm.
“That goes back to having been founded here 130 years ago. We have been a piece of the building of the city
since the beginning, literally the physical building of the city.”
Connell is referring to the firm’s strong public finance and municipal bond practice, which still today gives
Squire a hand in shaping the cityscape of Cleveland, most recently the building of the high-rise downtown
Hilton and the reimagining of Public Square. Involvement with local nonprofits is a natural extension
of this connectedness. “We’ve always been very involved in the city, the county,
and the state. It’s very important to us. It’s where we work, where we live.”
At the same time, it was Squire’s international connectedness that initially
drew Connell to the firm 15 years ago. She had come from a career working
overseas for the U.S. Department of State, and she wanted a law practice that
would build on that global experience.
As it turns out, the Connells’ Shaker Heights experience has also been an
international one for their children, thanks to the Shaker schools’ International
Baccalaureate Programme. But years before that, when Michele was still in law
school at Case Western Reserve University, she and her husband Chris, a teacher,
craved country living after years in large cities around the world.
“We bought a house in Geauga County, and we had a little over an acre by a
horse farm. It was close to nothing.” After long commutes from the snow belt for
a couple of years the Connells decided to move to Shaker Heights. At that time,
their eldest, Abby, was about to start kindergarten, and they knew they wanted
Shaker schools for their kids.
It wasn’t just Michele’s commute that prompted the move. “We wanted the
sidewalks, the diversity, as well as the schools. As well as the convenience of
having a lot of services closer.”
There’s been one more big Shaker bonus: its IB approach to education. It’s
what their kids would have had if they’d stayed abroad, and it’s the approach
Chris used when he taught internationally during Michele’s State Department years. The Connells already
believed in Shaker schools when their oldest started kindergarten 15 years ago, but the District’s embrace of
the IB curriculum in the years since has been the cherry on top. “I knew how challenging it was, I knew what an
interesting approach and outlook on the world it was, and so I was very happy about it,” says Michele.
A senior in high school, the Connells’ son Jake is currently completing his IB coursework. Daughter Abby, who
is now a sophomore at Columbia University, also earned her IB diploma at the high school. “It was a great fit for
her learning style, and she felt extremely prepared when she got to Columbia.” The Connells have also been pleased
that their youngest, sixth-grader Caroline, has been able to experience the IB program in her elementary years, too.
“It’s been great. It’s very impressive, and it’s very outward looking,” says Michele.
Outward looking – you could say the same for Michele’s local and global work at Squire. For Michele and
her family, both her professional life at Squire and her personal life in Shaker have been a happy combination of
rootedness and connection with the world.
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