Neal Brady, now deputy counsel of Hillsdale College, coaches the Hillsdale Academy varsity soccer team. Courtesy | Yahoo News
When Neal Brady stepped down as the Hillsdale County Prosecutor, he wasn’t sure what his professional future looked like. On Jan. 13, Brady began work as deputy counsel of Hillsdale College.
Brady had served as Hillsdale County Prosecutor for 28 years, winning seven elections, but he said he felt it was time to move on from public office. That decision, however, left him momentarily without a plan. He said he began to consider possible opportunities for work when Bob Norton, vice president and general counsel of Hillsdale College, came calling.
“We talked and he said that with some changes down here in legal, they could use another person,” Brady said. “We talked a bit more and I agreed to come on.”
The legal counsel department onboarded Brady to build relationships with departments across campus.
According to Brady, he already has connections in the Security and Emergency Management Department. In his previous role, Brady said he partnered with John Wilmer, now the Director of Security for Hillsdale College, who had worked for the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office.
“I am excited to be working with Brady again,” Wilmer said.
Brady said he also expects to work closely with Institutional Advancement.
“As I’m sure the students can see, things are growing very fast around here — donations, charities. Some people even leave Hillsdale in their will — which means legal counsel needs more help managing the workload,” Brady said. “My goal is to serve as a liaison between departments that should have good relations with the legal department.”
Brady’s connection to the Hillsdale community began in 1996 when he was first elected as county prosecutor and grew in the years that followed.
Brady hails from Saginaw, Michigan and attended Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, about seventy miles north of Hillsdale. Upon graduation, he took a job in the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office under Joseph Filip. But Brady left in 1993 when Filip lost a reelection campaign. In 1996, he won the election for County Prosecutor of Hillsdale County.
In 2000, he was hired as the coach of the Hillsdale Academy soccer team. Brady said his daughter Elizabeth graduated from Hillsdale in 2014. His daughter Emily also attended the college for two years, and all six of his children went to Hillsdale Academy. There, he coached his three sons in soccer.
“Brady coached for a little bit before I got here, but we partnered and now we’ve been working together for 23 years,” Mike Roberts, headmaster at Hillsdale Academy, said.
Roberts said while he and Brady are technically colleagues, they are great friends outside of their professional roles at the academy.
“We used to joke that Neal was on a season-to-season contract. Every year before things got rolling, I’d take him out for a drink, and we’d solve the world’s problems, talk soccer, and try to reach an agreement,” Roberts said. “He never got let go.”
Roberts said he was not involved in Brady’s hiring, but has enjoyed watching his friend navigate professional life outside of his elected office.
“He has so much to offer,” Roberts said. “Of course, I was rooting for him to settle down at the college.”
After 28 years, Brady did not run for County Prosecutor during the last election cycle. In November, voters elected Jamie Wisniewski as his successor.
“I figured it was time for new blood in that role,” Brady said. “Likewise, I figured it was time I take on a new role.”
But there will be no new blood leading the Hillsdale Academy varsity soccer team. Brady said he looks forward to serving on the legal counsel for the college and continuing to coach at the Academy.
“We’re district champs five years running now,” Brady said. “There’s not much more you could ask for, other than a regional championship.”
Brady said he is happy with his station right now.
“After a lot of years in and around Hillsdale, I’m glad to finally land at the college,” Brady said. “The mission is good, the people are good.”