David D. Welch

David D. Welch was born in Washington, D.C., in 1943. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of Florida College of Law (B.A., 1965; J.D., 1967). Mr. Welch served on active duty in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Navy from 1968 to 1972. In 1973, Mr. Welch returned to Pompano Beach to practice law with the firm of Musselman Rhinehardt & Welch (now known as David D. Welch Law Offices). Mr. Welch has extensive experience in banking, real estate, probate, corporate and business law, devoting a substantial part of his practice to complex litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts. He counts among his clients numerous corporations and other business entities whose chief executives rely on his counsel on a wide variety of legal matters. He and his firm have served as general counsel and special litigation counsel for several federal and state chartered banking institutions doing business in Florida.

Mr. Welch has been a leader in his profession. He served as president of the Broward County Bar Association, and is also a past President of the Broward County Trial Lawyers Association. For eight years he represented Broward County lawyers as an elected member of the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar, where he served on the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the Task Force on Technology. He is a past Chairman of the Program evaluation Committee, the Disciplinary Procedure Committee, and the Communications Committee. He is admitted to practice before state and federal courts of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th and 11th Circuits and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Mr. Welch has also been certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit Court Mediator. He has had an "AV" lawyer rating from Martindale-Hubbell for over 30 years.

Between September 1993 and October 1996, in his capacity as a Captain in the United States Naval Reserve, Mr. Welch served as a federal court of appeals judge on the United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington, D.C., and is the author of several published opinions of that court. When he received his appointment to the appeals court, it represented only the second time in the history of the Navy and Marine Corps that a Naval Reservist was selected for service on the court. Mr. Welch received a Presidential citation for outstanding meritorious service upon leaving the court in 1996.

Mr. Welch has also been active in the local community, having served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Home Society, member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Arthritis Foundation, Professional Chairman for the United Way, and volunteer attorney for Broward Lawyers Care.  In addition to his law practice, Mr. Welch is active in the business world, serving as General Partner of the partnership that owns and operates the Boca Dunes Golf & Country Club, and as chairman of the board of directors of its management company.

Mr. Welch is married to Barbara Welch, a successful real estate broker with Coldwell Banker, and former president of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale.