Bio

• Jessica L. Ward returned to the Attorney General’s Office in Springfield from private practice in December 2022. Jessica previously worked in the Attorney General’s Kansas City office as a Unit Manager in Financial Services, overseeing the Kansas City and Springfield Recovery teams. She has worked for the State of Missouri for over 10 years, having served as an Assistant Attorney General and an Assistant Public Defender II.

  After law school, Jessica served as an Assistant Public Defender II at the Lake of the Ozarks. She then joined the Attorney General’s office in Springfield in Financial Services. After this, she practiced in a class action litigation firm, before joining a firm specializing in personal injury, workers’ compensation and Social Security disability law. Jessica later opened Ward Law Office, LLC and enjoyed running her own firm before returning to the Attorney General’s Office in Financial Services, Recovery. Jessica moved to the Kansas City office and served as Unit Manager in Recovery from 2015 until 2022, when she left to enter private practice with a firm in Ozark, Missouri to serve on their litigation team before returning to the Attorney General’s Office to join their litigation division as Senior Counsel. In her free time, Jessica enjoys spending time with her son, and her large dogs, hiking, reading, and traveling.

Practice Areas

• Litigation
• Administrative Law
• General Practice

Admitted to Practice

• Missouri, 2005
• United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Admitted 2008
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Admitted 2023

Education

• University of Missouri – Columbia School of Law, Juris Doctor with Electronic Commercial & Intellectual Property Law Certificate, 2005; University of Missouri – Columbia School of Law Dean’s List
• University of Missouri Science and Technology, Bachelor of Science in Psychology with emphasis in Neuroscience, Minors in Biological Sciences and English Literature; 2002;                                                                                                                         ▪ Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society Vice President and Member, University of Missouri – Rolla;
  ▪ Managed University of Missouri – Rolla Psi Chi chapter website, planned and coordinated activities, and assisted in acquiring funding for chapter;
  ▪ University of Missouri – Rolla Psychology Department Annual Leadership Award 2001 – 2002;
  ▪ University of Missouri – Rolla Dean’s List;
  ▪ University of Missouri – Rolla Distinguished Scholars Scholarship;
  ▪ University of Missouri – Rolla University Scholarship;
  ▪ Robert C. Byrd Scholarship for Academic Excellence

Professional Affiliations

• Missouri Bar
• Springfield Metropolitan Bar

Honors & Awards

• The American Society of Legal Advocates, Top 40 Under 40 Litigation Lawyers 2016
• The National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers, 2014 – 2017
• The American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys: 10 Best 2014