Welch was elected as a judge to the Marion County Superior Court in 2006, and began serving on January 1, 2007.
Welch was one of the three people on that subcommittee (which also included Allen County Superior Court Judge Craig J. Bobay).
The working group and subcommittee ultimately urged creating a commercial court pilot project.
[4][2] After her retirement as a judge, Welch joined the private alternative dispute resolution firm JAMS, where she provides services as a mediator, arbitrator, special master, neutral evaluator and hearing officer.
Since 2018, Welch has been an adjunct professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, teaching legal communications and analysis[12][2] Among others, Welch has received the following awards and honors:[2] In 2023, the Indianapolis Bar Association gave her its Silver Gavel Award.
"This annual award is to recognize exceptional, meritorious achievement by a judicial officer widely accepted by his or her peers as having consistently modeled the spirit of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
"[13] In 2023, the National Association of Women Judges gave her its Norma Wikler Excellence in Service Award.
She was recognized "for service to the public and profession[,]" and was "described as a 'pillar' of the legal community, committed to the improvement of the judicial system.
[2] She served as chair of the American Bar Association's National Conference of State Trial Judges in 2019 to 2020.