Melody Eagan Named Managing Partner of Lightfoot, Franklin & White
October 3, 2017
Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC is pleased to announce that Melody Hurdle Eagan has been named the firm’s new managing partner, effective January 1, 2018. Eagan will be the first woman to lead the prominent Birmingham litigation firm. She succeeds Wynn M. Shuford, who will return to his litigation practice full-time after serving as the firm’s managing partner for the last four years.
“Melody is dedicated to the success of this firm and has proven so in her more than two decades at Lightfoot,” said Shuford. “She is a natural leader, and I’m confident she will steer the firm with a steady hand, continuing our tradition of excellent client service.”
Eagan has practiced law at Lightfoot for more than 20 years, focusing on product liability and personal injury cases. She serves as regional counsel for a number of clients and has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict throughout the Southeast. In addition to her trial practice, Melody serves as appellate counsel for a number of clients, assisting them with appeals, preparation and oral argument of dispositive and other significant pretrial motions at the trial court level.
“It is truly an honor and a privilege to be able to serve as managing partner for a group of such creative, wonderful and talented folks, and I am very excited about what the future holds for the firm,” said Eagan. “Our founders Warren Lightfoot, Sam Franklin and Jere White, always put service to the firm and to our clients above their own personal interests, and following their example is a top priority as I step into this leadership role.”
In the near future, Eagan sees the firm continuing its recent growth in white-collar criminal defense and internal investigations, and expanding its commercial litigation practice. Longer term, she envisions a greater focus on growing the firm’s profile outside of Alabama, while still maintaining its leading presence within the state.
“While our long-time clients know what we can do, our vision over the next five to ten years is to become nationally recognized as the go-to litigation firm in the Southeast for corporate clients,” she said. “I firmly believe we have the tools, the talent and the culture necessary to achieve this.”
Eagan has been an active member of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association (ADLA) and served as the organization’s president from 2012-2013, only the third woman ever elected to the office. She also served as Director and Officer for the association and was Chairperson for the ADLA Trial Academy.
Eagan is also a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) where she has served as the State Liaison for the DRI Women in the Law Committee. She is an active member of the Birmingham Bar Association, where she has previously served on the Public Service Committee for many years.
Eagan graduated from the Law School at Vanderbilt University, where she served as the Managing Editor of the Law Review and was selected to the Order of the Coif. She is married to a trial lawyer, is a proud mother and is a classically trained musician. She is active in her church where she often plays the piano and teaches children’s Sunday School.
The American Lawyer and the Birmingham Business Journal wrote about Eagan’s new leadership position.
