Attorney Melodie Rose, who gets energized by complex legal issues, fully recognizes that her tenure as president of Minnesota’s largest law firm will be defined by breathtaking changes in the economy.

Seated in a conference room in Fredrikson’s new downtown Minneapolis office, Rose recounted how she recently returned from a national conference on corporate governance that acted as a warning flare for the pace of change.

“One of the things they talked about was how rapidly everything is evolving,” Rose said. “This both worried me and excited me to hear that the speed at which things are right now—as fast as they are—is as slow as it’s ever going to be.”

Rose, who became the new president of the Fredrikson law firm in late September, has benefited from constancy in her legal life. Fredrikson is the only law firm where she has worked since graduating from the University of Michigan Law School in 1990.

During Rose’s long Fredrikson career, attorney John Koneck was a role model who became a mentor for her. For the past 29 years, Koneck served on Fredrikson’s board, and he joined the law firm’s executive committee 25 years ago. Koneck became the firm’s president 19 years ago and handed the leadership baton to Rose a few months after the firm moved into its new office at 60 South Sixth Street.

Under the constant leadership of Koneck, the firm had tremendous growth and Rose built her practice and was chosen for numerous leadership roles that prepared her to succeed Koneck.

During Koneck’s tenure as president, the law firm grew from 170 lawyers to 388. By 2023, the firm employed 735 people.

Meanwhile, Rose was selected to co-chair Fredrikson’s public companies and corporate governance groups. She became chair of the firm’s business division. She was chosen to serve on the compensation committee and board of directors.

Rose had been tested in these roles. Her leadership approach had been well known before she was appointed by the board to take the helm of the 75-year-old firm, which has the largest number of attorneys in Minnesota.

Now, she’s charged with upholding the longstanding values of the firm, while supporting Fredrikson attorneys and staff as they serve business clients facing major changes in how their companies operate.

New challenges for the ‘client-centric’ firm

In her legal work, Rose often has served as an “outside general counsel” for business clients. “One of the things that I enjoy most about my practice is working with the executives and the boards, helping them think through their strategies,” Rose said.

Fredrikson uses the tagline “where law and business meet” to define its work, and Rose said Fredrikson also defines itself as a “client-centric” law firm.

“That means we are doing all that we can to focus on our clients, that means focusing on the future and what their needs are and will be,” she said.

Across business sectors, Rose said, companies will be dealing with artificial intelligence, other evolutions in technology, climate change, talent development to meet new types of work, and geopolitical issues, such as foreign trade, intellectual property, and the effects of two conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The changes will affect the products and services that companies produce as well as how and where they do business. In partnership with Fredrikson, Rose said, companies will be identifying “opportunities that are there and not shying away in fear of all of the change, of innovation, and technology.” Businesses are trying to figure out how to adapt to some of these major economic trends.

Fredrikson’s people, differentiating the firm

As president, Rose will be looking at growth opportunities for the law firm, such as adding depth to practice areas, increasing the number of offices beyond Minneapolis, and expanding expertise and practice specialties. The firm currently has offices in eight Upper Midwest cities as well as offices in Mexico and China.

Across the firm, Rose is striving to maintain a culture that is collegial and helps people develop as attorneys and legal office professionals. “One of the things that I find very powerful and fun about being here is collaboration and how we approach what we do,” Rose said. “I love working with smart, talented people, and helping them find their unique strength and encouraging and inspiring them to work toward that common goal.”

Rose has worked alongside Koneck, including joint service on Fredrikson’s compensation committee. Over many years, she observed how Koneck treated fellow employees.

“The most important thing that I have learned from him is it is all about the people, connecting with the people, being with the people, and really caring about them,” Rose said. “That is something that I have watched him do, and I have tried to do.”

While every leader’s style is somewhat different, Rose envisions that she will share some similarities with Koneck. “He approached his role with a passion for this firm and its people, while staying authentic to who he is. That is something that I’m certainly going to try to do,” she said.

In her new president’s role, Rose will lead the discussion about growth opportunities. She isn’t locked in on a specific expansion strategy. “In the end, it is about doing what works for Fredrikson, and what works for our clients,” Rose said.

One successful example she cited was the addition of five Wisconsin-based attorneys to Fredrikson’s firm in May 2022. Fredrikson expanded its energy practice by hiring attorneys from the Wheeler, Van Sickle & Anderson firm in Madison. “In that case, that market and the people there really fit in nicely,” she said.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic surfaced in 2020, three Twin Cities law firms took part in large mergers.

Under her leadership, will Rose pursue a merger of equals for Fredrikson? “We are not looking for that in the sense that it’s our primary goal,” Rose said. “As with all businesses, I think we try to stay open minded. But we’re not actively looking to try to do something that makes us who we’re not.”

Farm girl to big city attorney

Rose’s decision to enter the legal profession didn’t surface until she was wrapping up a bachelor’s degree in business. She didn’t graduate from Breck, Blake, St. Paul Academy and Summit School or another elite private high school in the Twin Cities.

Rose is the product of Hettinger Public School in Hettinger, North Dakota, which had a population of about 1,500 to 1,600 people when Rose was growing up. Rose lists the school on her LinkedIn profile.

She was one of four daughters of parents who did not attend college, until her father went to college in his 50s, so he could become a tax accountant for farmers and ranchers.

“We did grow up on a farm,” she said. “It had a huge impact on where I am today. The lessons that I learned, whether I realized it or not at the time, were the lessons of hard work and working together.”

Rose’s family raised beef cattle and grew corn and durum wheat on a farm in Adams County, which is in southwest North Dakota on the South Dakota border. “There isn’t much that you get done on a farm without help and working together,” Rose said. “Everyone played their part, but you also needed to show a little initiative. All of those things combined to help get me where I am today.”

Rose was class valedictorian and co-editor of the yearbook, and she won the school’s best actress award.

When asked whether she was a member of 4-H, Rose laughed during the interview. Then, she said, “I was secretly hoping you might ask me. I am very proud of my 4-H background.”

The 4-H youth development program has provided a strong foundation for many leaders who’ve emerged from rural America. “4-H was a huge part of my growing up and preparing me for a lot of what we are doing now in terms of leadership,” she said.

She competed in 4-H public speaking contests, ran the local club, and did countless 4-H projects that included working with livestock. “I went to the North Dakota State Fair every year since I was probably six,” she said.

After graduating from high school in a senior class of 53, she went to the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks to earn a business degree with an emphasis in accounting.

“When I was finishing up my college career, I sat for the CPA exam and as I thought about how it might play out, I wasn’t convinced that being a practicing accountant was ultimately what I wanted to do,” Rose said. “I love academics. I took the LSAT and did well.”

She moved to Michigan for law school and thought she ultimately would practice in Minneapolis or Denver. “Fredrikson actually did on campus interviewing in Michigan,” she said.

She also interviewed with Fredrikson leaders in Minneapolis and got a job offer. “It just resonated with me that this was a place where I felt I could not just fit in and feel like I belonged, but that I could be a part of something that they were building,” Rose said.

New leaders, new office

2023 has been a history-making year for Fredrikson. Rose became the first woman to lead the firm since its founding in 1948. She joins several other women lawyers in the Twin Cities who are leading firms or Minnesota offices of national firms.

Women also have moved into other prominent roles at Fredrikson, which has been recognized by Law360 as a top law firm for women for 10 consecutive years.

In March, Fredrikson announced the hiring of veteran attorney Ann Rainhart to take on the pivotal role of chief operating officer. In September, Fredrikson shareholders elected Loan Huynh to the board of directors. Huynh was the first lawyer of color to join the board.

In her COO role, Rainhart oversees the chief financial officer, chief information officer, chief practice management officer, chief marketing officer, and chief human resources officer.

As the firm’s president, Rose said she’ll be prioritizing growth, innovation, and talent development and retention. In addition to regular communication with the firm’s nine-member board, she said, she’ll work closely with attorneys Kevin Goodno and Jamie Snelson, who comprise the firm’s executive committee along with Rose.

Snelson was among firm leaders involved in planning for the firm’s new offices at 60 South Sixth Street, where Fredrikson occupies eight floors.

Unless she’s traveling for work, Rose goes to the office nearly every day. She lives in Medina with her husband, and she isn’t juggling child care drop-offs because she has three children in their 20s.

Fredrikson’s office was designed for the shift to hybrid work that’s been an outgrowth of the pandemic. Unlike some downtown Minneapolis employers, Fredrikson isn’t requiring its attorneys to work at Fredrikson three days a week.

“We have not mandated any specific days in the week for our attorneys,” Rose said. “We have encouraged them to be in the office, or not, as needed to address clients’ needs.”

The attorneys at Fredrikson were given the option of choosing a permanent office location for themselves or opting to reserve an office space on a given day when they are working at the law firm.

In Rose’s case, her work style is a blend of the old and new. Her five-day-a-week office presence is a holdover from pre-pandemic days, but she’s decided to forgo a fixed office on a given floor.

“I love the collaboration and the connecting with people,” Rose said. “You can certainly do that virtually. You can certainly do that in person. But I do like coming in.”

Before she goes to the firm’s office, Rose reserves an available attorney office on a digital system that Fredrikson uses. Any items that she wants to keep at Fredrikson are stored in a “mobile ped,” which is a small cabinet on wheels. The peds are delivered to reserved offices before the attorneys are scheduled to work in them.

“I wanted to be able to move around,” Rose said. “I like being able to come in and find an office on a different floor and engage with people a little bit more than I might otherwise. There is still something that just happens organically when you are sitting in different places.”