Melody H. Eagan, Managing Partner

Melody Eagan understands that attention to details makes the difference.

Melody has decades of experience defending clients in high-stakes catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. A trusted regional counsel for a number of manufacturers, Melody has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict throughout the Southeast. She understands that the key to handling product liability cases is a detailed understanding of the product’s design and utility, and because of her experience and attention to detail, Melody is at home presenting complex engineering concepts to juries in an easy-to-understand fashion, picking apart experts’ theories and defending her clients’ products.  

In addition to her product liability practice, Melody regularly represents doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice cases. She also serves as appellate counsel for a number of clients, assisting them not only with appeals but also preparation and oral argument of dispositive and other significant pretrial motions at the trial court level.

Melody, Lightfoot's current managing partner, is the first woman to lead the firm in its history. She is also on the firm's Executive Committee. Melody previously served as the president of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association (ADLA) in 2012-13, only the third woman ever elected to the office. Melody is also a member of the 2018 Leadership Alabama class.

Melody’s interests outside of work focus primarily on her family, her family, church, and music. Married to a trial lawyer, she is a proud mother and classically trained musician. Melody plays piano at her church, teaches youth Sunday school, and serves on the Vestry and in other church leadership roles. In addition to her church activities, she is on the Board of Directors for Better Basics, as well as the Board of Directors for the Virginia Samford Theatre, furthering her dedication to education, community development, and the arts. Melody also enjoys singing, musical theatre, working out her stress on the Peloton, and spending time with her family, including her husband, children ranging over a 20+ year span, grandchildren, and two co-dependent dogs.

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On Simplifying a Defense

The trial was in rural Mississippi. The plaintiff was burned in a flash fire when she opened her oven door to retrieve some homemade biscuits. One of the volunteer EMTs at the site mentioned seeing tools on the shelf of a nearby propane furnace, as well as some matches and a homemade lighter. The EMT also told our investigator that the plaintiff had said that her husband was fiddling with the furnace that morning, a fact the plaintiff later denied.

When we tested the furnace’s gas control valve, the valve stuck open and leaked — not because of a defect in the valve, but because of a nest built in the valve by Mississippi mud daubers. The plaintiff’s expert had stored this valuable piece of evidence in an open shed. The obvious defense was spoliation after the accident by the plaintiff ’s expert and the lack of any evidence of a defect.

Even though we were armed with a good defense, we could not resist arguing that the plaintiff 's husband caused the gas leak, so we called the EMT as a witness. Little did we know, the EMT was the plaintiff s neighbor and had been sued by the plaintiff because her pet goats had repeatedly feasted in the plaintiff’s yard, leading to a neighborly feud rivaling the Hatfields and McCoys. Unfortunately, as a result, the plaintiff’s counsel successfully made our star witness out to be vindictive rather than credible. 

From that day forward, I’ve prepared my cases by asking myself, “Do I really need to go after those tools, or do I risk becoming a goat by 'biting off more than I can chew'?"