Alumni Profile: Michelle Welsh
Michelle Welsh
MCL Class of 1978
When Mickey Welsh was a recent college graduate living in Philadelphia, she became involved with activist groups who used giant puppets to create political street theater. There first seeds of her interest in the law were planted.
“The police would come watch us do this. We didn’t know what we could or could not do. That’s how I first became interested in the law.” she said. “People need to know their rights. That way you can choose your behavior in the way that makes sense to accomplish what you hope to accomplish.”
In 1973, after both her parents had passed away, Welsh left Pennsylvania to stay in the home of a friend in Big Sur while she figured out her next steps in life. While there, she learned about a new law school that had just opened in Monterey.
“I decided to look into it. They still had openings….and, all of a sudden, I began law school,” she said.
Welsh had heard stories that law school would be grueling or boring, but she found her experience to be just the opposite. She was fascinated by the stories of people encountering government and the law, navigating between two legitimate arguments, and figuring out how to resolve conflicts. She also met her future life and law partner, Kathy Stoner, while both were students.
“I loved it from the very beginning,” Welsh said. “It was one intellectual challenge after another. The practice of law has been the same—never boring!”
Welsh graduated from Monterey College of Law in 1978, part of the school’s second graduating class. Shortly after, Dean Marian Penn asked her to join the Board of Trustees as its first alumni member. She also joined the faculty, first teaching Legal Writing and later Constitutional Law. Through this close involvement with the College over many years, she watched the school evolve from a school with no physical location, operating out of the Portuguese Hall in Monterey and classrooms borrowed from Carmel High School and MIIS, through its days based on Pearl, then Franklin Streets and ultimately to its current, permanent home on Fort Ord.
In her second year of law school, she also took a job clerking with Noland, Hamerly, Ettienne and Hoss. This gave her the opportunity to put the legal education she was receiving into practice. She remained there until she passed the bar, at which point the firm hired her as an associate.
“It was a surprise. They had never hired a woman attorney before, and not anyone from MCL,” she said.
She remained there for four more years. “They were very good to me. I had free rein to do the work and they continually gave me more responsibility all along. I learned how to practice law and was trained well in the highest standards of ethics,” she said.
Welsh was offered a partnership, but ultimately declined. “I wanted to engage in activism and use the law to create a more just society. Because Noland Hamerly was more of a traditional conservative firm, I felt I could find more opportunities to do those types of cases on my own.”
Instead, she and Stoner decided to open their own legal office in 1982. They were joined by Peggy Schmidt and, together, the three women built a practice that focused on “things real people needed—people’s families, people’s jobs, and what happens when people die.” Stoner specialized in family law, Schmidt did estate planning , and Welsh focused on employment law representing the employee, particularly teachers represented by the California Teachers Association union.. They practiced together for 37 years, until Stoner was appointed a Commissioner on the Monterey County Superior Court in 2016.
While in practice, Welsh became more active in the ACLU, taking on pro bono cases and volunteer work. She remains engaged with them now, even after closing the law office in 2018.
“My orientation is civil liberties and constitutional rights. They were my favorite subjects in law school, and passion in practice.” Since 2001 she has taught Constitutional Law at the College, and she loves watching the students grapple with the “diabolical constitutional issues” presented to them each year through the Heisler Moot Court Competition
As Welsh looks back on her journey, she’s grateful for the impact Monterey College of Law had on her life. “It’s hard to express how important it is to have this opportunity in our community. I was 24 years old when I started, both parents dead, I and didn’t have any money. Monterey College of Law gave me the opportunity to learn the law and to do important work for my whole career.
“There will always be a need for the College,” she said. “It’s a really important endeavor in the community to offer affordable legal education that increases the diversity of the legal profession and serves people who have the ambition but lack the financial ability to get there otherwise.
“I’ve been able to help a lot of people, and I’m just one graduate. How many have served people, been on boards, been volunteers? I’m really proud of the institution, it’s done a great job.”