Jennifer Smestad

General Counsel and Vice President, Legal Affairs, Secretary

In 2018 Jennifer Smestad was named General Counsel and Vice President, Legal Affairs, and Secretary at Otter Tail Power Company and Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Otter Tail Corporation. In this dual role, she's responsible for the legal affairs and secretary matters of both entities.

Jennifer began her career at Otter Tail Corporation in 2001 as an Associate General Counsel, providing legal counsel to the corporation’s non-utility businesses and working on mergers and acquisitions for the corporation. In 2005 she began focusing exclusively on the legal affairs of Otter Tail Power and was promoted to Senior Associate General Counsel in 2012, then to General Counsel in 2013.

Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy West Point, New York, and her Juris Doctor degree from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. She served as a U.S. Army Officer in both the Medical Service Corps and Judge Advocate General Corps, attaining the rank of Major in the Army Reserves. Prior to Jennifer's time at our company, she was a partner in a regional law firm. 

Jennifer is a member of the North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota Bar Associations, the Minnesota Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association, and the American Bar Association. She is also a Certified Corporate Governance Professional through the Society of Corporate Governance.