Education & Training

Ms. Welch graduated from the University of California's Berkeley Law School (formerly Boalt Hall), Order of the Coif (top 10% of graduating class).  She won the Moot Court Competition and was awarded the Stephen Finney Jamison Award for the 1987 graduate best representing the qualities of an advocate and a scholar.  She is an active member of the California State Bar and has been admitted to practice in the Northern and Central Districts of California. She clerked for the Honorable D. Lowell Jensen (ret.) at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, in the 1987-1988 term.

Ms. Welch has been selected by the American Arbitration Association to teach its Core training course that is mandatory for new panel members. Other AAA teaching engagements have covered the full gamut of procedural issues, including:

  • Managing the Arbitration Process for Efficiency & Economy Following the Preliminary Hearing

  • Maximizing Efficiency & Economy in Arbitration: Challenges at the Preliminary Hearing

  • Conducting Independent Legal Research

  • Principled Decision-making

  • Managing E-discovery

  • Red Flags and Risk Areas for Arbitrators

  • Dealing with Difficult Attorneys in Arbitrations

Her speaking engagements have included: “Why Courts Vacate Awards and How to Avoid It” at the 2023 AAA-ICDR Panel Conference; “Winning Attorneys’ Fees and Costs in Arbitration,” 2023 BASF presentation; “Dealing with Difficult Parties, Counsel and Witnesses,” 2023 AAA webinar; Moderating “Getting it Right: Arbitrating in California; the View from International Arbitrators” at the 2022 inaugural California International Arbitration Week; “Mass Arbitrations,” 2022 College of Commercial Arbitrators Webinar; moderating panels on Awards and Post-Award Issues at the 2020 and 2019 ABA Arbitration Training Institutes; Managing the Evidentiary Hearing at the 2022, 2018, 2017 and 2016 ABA Arbitration Training Institute;  Dealing with Delay Tactics in Arbitration at the 2021 AAA-ICDR panelist conference; Arbitrability and Jurisdiction at the 2018 ABA Dispute Resolution Section Spring Conference; Avoiding Pitfalls in Drafting Awards at the 2017 ABA Dispute Resolution Section Spring Conference; Dispositive Motion in Arbitration for the 2016 ABA Dispute Resolution Section Spring Conference; Arbitration for Litigators, State Bar of California Annual Meeting, 2013; Preventing the Runaway Arbitration, ABA Annual Convention; Conducting an Effective and Efficient Arbitration, State Bar of California Annual Meeting, 2010.  

Other speaking engagements have included: "Ethics in the Corporate Context" for PLI "Understanding the Securities Laws", 2004-07; Panel Moderator on Post-Enron Regulation, ACC Gala, April 2005; California Governor's Conference on Women and Families, November 2004; Panel on Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers, ABA Business Law Section, April 2004; Women Corporate Counsel Conference, September 2001.

Her training in ADR includes numerous AAA courses on the arbitral process, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators' accelerated course on international arbitration, NASD (now FINRA) arbitration training, mediation training at the University of California, Berkeley extension and at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.