Jessica Lange advises boards of directors, senior leadership teams, general counsel, CFOs, corporate secretaries, and investor relations professionals on corporate governance, securities law, disclosure, corporate transactions, and finance matters. She brings a practical, business-minded perspective shaped by more than 26 years of experience solving complex legal and business problems, including more than two decades as in-house counsel to large, publicly traded companies.

Jessica brings more than expert technical legal knowledge to client engagements. Having spent much of her career “in the client’s seat,” she understands that legal advice must be accurate, practical, actionable, and aligned with the realities of business decision-making. She knows what it means to advise directors, executive officers, general counsel, CFOs, corporate secretaries, investor relations teams, and business leaders in real time, often under pressure and against a backdrop of incomplete information, competing priorities, and significant reputational, regulatory, governance, and business consequences.

That hands-on experience enables Jessica to translate complex securities, governance, finance, M&A, capital markets, and executive compensation issues into clear choices, practical recommendations, and workable next steps. She helps boards and management teams identify risk, evaluate tradeoffs, solve problems, and move forward with confidence. Clients value her judgment, her ability to anticipate issues, and her experience bringing legal, finance, governance, compliance, and business stakeholders together around common objectives.

Jessica’s big company experience can be especially valuable for middle-market and smaller public companies, where legal issues often require seasoned public company judgment, practical prioritization, and advice that can be implemented efficiently and where that expertise may not be available in-house. She draws on large-company experience while tailoring her advice to each client’s resources, risk tolerance, disclosure obligations, governance structures, and business objectives.

Her practice is well suited to public companies and their advisors seeking senior-level securities and governance judgment on SEC reporting, disclosure controls, board and committee matters, shareholder communications, capital markets transactions, M&A, executive compensation, and corporate governance risk management.

Before joining Bodman, Jessica’s inhouse career included service as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Securities and Finance for Darden Restaurants, Inc., the world’s largest full-service restaurant company. She previously served as an Expert Attorney for Securities, Finance, and Governance for DTE Energy Company and as Vice President of Corporate Finance and Securities Counsel for Comerica Bank. She also served as Counsel and Assistant Secretary for The Boeing Company and as Associate Counsel for Harley-Davidson Financial Services, Inc.

In those roles, Jessica advised on SEC reporting and disclosure, securities law compliance, financial transactions, corporate governance, subsidiary management, corporate policies, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, board support, and executive compensation. She led teams, negotiated with counterparties, supported boards and senior executives, developed policies and controls, and helped organizations address governance, ethics, compliance, finance, disclosure, and transactional matters in practical, business-focused ways. She began her legal career as a finance associate in the Chicago and London offices of a global law firm.

Jessica is active in the broader public company governance and securities law community. She serves on the Securities Law Committee of the Society for Corporate Governance, where she contributes to discussions of emerging securities law, disclosure, governance, and public company compliance issues. She also speaks regularly on securities law, corporate governance, public company disclosure, regulatory developments, and related topics, bringing a practical in-house perspective to audiences of lawyers, governance professionals, directors, executives, and other public company advisors.

Jessica also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she designed an innovative International Business Transactions course that combined substantive instruction with a practical, skills-based teaching model. That same commitment to practical education informs her client service, thought leadership, and speaking engagements: Jessica helps sophisticated audiences understand not only what the law requires, but how to apply it effectively in real-world corporate settings.

Click this icon to access Jessica’s articles on JDSupra:

Civic, Cultural, and Community Activities

• Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras, Member, Board of Directors
  • Marketing and Fund Development Chair (2023-2024)
• Southwest Counseling Solutions, Member, Board of Directors
  • Early Childhood Policy Committee (2006-2016)
  • Fund Development Committee member and Chair (2006-2012)
• Greening of Detroit
  • Board of Commissioners (2009-2011)
• Citizens for Charter Reform
  • Co-Chairperson (2008-2009)
• Detroit Regional Chamber, Leadership Detroit— Class XXX
• The MORE Program (Michigan-based entrepreneurial resource program)
  • Executive Director (2007-2008)

Professional Affiliations

• State Bar of Florida
  • Business Law Section
  • Corporate and Securities Law Committee
  • Chapter 607 Drafting Subcommittee (2020-present)
• State Bar of Michigan
  • Business Law Section

Speaking Engagements

• Panelist, “Doing More with a Lot Less: Managing the Board and Disclosure at Small and Mid-Cap Companies,” Society for Corporate Governance Annual Conference (July 9, 2026)
• Speaker, “What’s Hot, What’s Next: 2025 Equity Comp Update,” National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) 2025 Conference (October 21, 2025)
• Presenter, National Association for Stock Plan Professionals (2019-present)

Academic Appointments

• Adjunct Professor, University of Detroit Mercy Law School (International Business Transactions) (2008)

Related News

• 02/17/2026The Time to Act is Now: Officers and Directors of Foreign Private Issuers Must Comply with Section 16(a) Reporting Requirements
• 08/26/2025Jessica P. Lange Joins Bodman PLC’s Business Practice Group in Detroit