LML October Monthly Meeting

Cathy McClellan is a retired attorney licensed to practice law in Maryland (active) and California (inactive).  She and her husband have owed a home on Hilton Head Island since 2008, and they moved here permanently after they both retired in 2017.

Cathy began her legal career as a Public Defender in Los Angeles County. After moving to Maryland, she ran successful campaigns for State offices and lobbied at the state level. She returned to the practice of criminal law and, after ten years of active litigation practice, she was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) with the State of Maryland in March 2000. There she trained as a mediator and conducted mediations and settlement conferences as part of her duties as an ALJ. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Baltimore School of Law from January 2003 - December 2013, and taught mediation skills to law students for 10 years.

In July 2005, she left her position as an ALJ to accept a job with the federal sector, where she worked in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Civil Rights offices of three federal agencies and was a subject matter expert in Alternative Dispute Resolution and the EEO counseling process.

Cathy was a dispute resolution professional for over 17 years and conducted mediations, facilitations and training as part of her responsibilities in various federal agencies. She also provided conflict coaching, organizational transformation consultations, and group support as a conflict resolution specialist and a Deputy Ombudsman.

Her continued commitment to public service inspired her to seek additional ways to serve by seeking public office. She hopes to be a catalyst for collaboration and for finding creative ways to better the lives of the residents of her community and beyond. She is certain her skills in team building and mediation and her legal background are significant assets and make her the right choice for this position as we move into the future.