Melodie R. Rose, Fredrikson & Byron P.A.

Melodie R. Rose is president and shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron in Minneapolis, serving as the first woman president in the firm’s 75-year history. A veteran of the firm for more than 30 years, she also serves on the board of directors and compensation committee while maintaining an active corporate law practice.

Rose has more than three decades of experience in corporate representation, including securities regulation, corporate governance, equity and debt capital market transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and business planning. She advises Fortune 500, mid-cap, small-cap, and start-up companies across diverse industries, as well as underwriters, placement agents, and venture firms. Her expertise spans general corporate and securities counsel for public and private companies at all stages of development.

Before becoming president, Rose served as co-chair of Fredrikson’s Corporate Governance and Public Companies/Capital Markets Groups. She has represented public companies as outside counsel for their corporate, securities, and governance needs, and has advised boards of directors and committees on risk assessment, sustainability, investigations, regulatory compliance, and business strategy implications. Her transactional experience includes representing companies and underwriters in capital formation through public and private securities offerings, as well as buyers and sellers in mergers, acquisitions, and business dispositions.

Rose earned her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1990 and her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in management and accounting from the University of North Dakota in 1987. She has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Securities/Capital Markets Law since 2009 and Corporate Law, and was named Lawyer of the Year in Minneapolis for Securities/Capital Markets Law in 2014.

Her leadership extends beyond the firm through her role as chair of the board of directors of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors and her service on the Minnesota Business Partnership board of directors. She teaches corporate governance as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where she also serves on the board of governors.