Melissa Dorman Matthews

Member

Biography

Melissa Dorman Matthews focuses her practice on professional liability, product liability, employment, personal injury, commercial litigation, and premises liability. Melissa has over 30 years of experience, and has tried cases all over Texas and beyond. She has extensive first-chair trial experience representing a broad spectrum of industries, including pharmaceutical and medical device, automotive, and heavy equipment manufacturers. She also counsels clients in product defect cases, class actions, attorney-client disputes, business and employment disputes, and personal injury matters. Melissa earned her law degree from Texas Tech University and her bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University.

Representative Experience

Defended auto manufacturers in connection with product defect claims, including airbags, door handles, roof strength, and general crashworthiness in Texas state courts
Served as Texas counsel for medical device manufacturer, with two trials to verdict for manufacturer in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division
Defeated product liability class claims for porcelain sanitary ware manufacturer in Kansas District Court
Defended product liability lawsuit involving allegation of design defect in automotive product and obtained dismissal of Korean client on jurisdictional grounds in Nueces County, Texas
Obtained dismissal of legal malpractice case in the Northern District of Texas
Defended multiple tire manufacturers in product liability cases in Texas state and federal courts
Successfully argued, in a high stakes product liability class action, to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that class counsel’s $4.3 million attorney fee award from the District Court in the Eastern District of Texas was grossly inflated, resulting in remand to the District Court. On remand, the District Court reduced class counsel’s original attorney fee award by 55 percent
Represented client in a product liability lawsuit involving allegation of automotive product design defect and obtained dismissal of Japanese client on jurisdictional grounds in Nueces County, Texas
Defended porcelain sanitary ware manufacturer in product liability class action involving manufacturing defect alleged to have caused cracking in toilet tanks, with resulting class settlements constituting 0.0056% of damage models presented by class counsel
Obtained dismissal of Colombian client on jurisdictional grounds in product liability lawsuit involving allegation of design defect in porcelain sanitary ware product in Rusk County, Texas
Defended motor coach manufacturer against product liability claims in Texas state courts and the Southern District of New York
Defended client in a consulting services lawsuit involving allegations of theft of services and civil conspiracy and obtained dismissal of South Carolina client on jurisdictional grounds in Tarrant County, Texas
Represented client in a lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy and misappropriation of likeness and obtained dismissal of Canadian client on jurisdictional grounds in the Houston Court of Appeals, First District
Obtained partial summary judgment in legal malpractice case in Cameron County, Texas

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Licensed In

New Mexico
Texas

Education

J.D. Texas Tech University School of Law

B.S. Texas Christian University

Memberships

Past Chair; Council Member, Women and the Law Section, State Bar of Texas (2005-Present)
Trial Attorneys of America (2012-Present)
Audit Committee Member, IADC (2022-2025)
Professional Liability Roundtable Chair, IADC (2020-2024)
Past Chair; Council of Chairs, State Bar of Texas (2015-2016)
Sustaining Life Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
Dallas Bar Association
Dallas Women Lawyers
Defense Research Institute
DRI Women in the Law Fairness and Equity in Compensation Task Force
Vice-Chair, Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion, IADC Product Liability Committee
Board of Directors, Recovery Resource Council
Vice-Chair, Special Projects of the IADC Drug, Device, and Biotech Committee
International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
Past Vice-Chair; Standing Committee on the Council of Chairs, State Bar of Texas
Past President, El Paso Women’s Bar Association

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Achievements

Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell
The Best Lawyers in America®, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants (2022-Present), Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants (2024-Present)
Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers (2012)
Texas Top-Rated Lawyers by ALM (2012)
Super Lawyers Rising Stars®, Products Liability Law, Employment Litigation Law, Class Action & Mass Torts: Defense Law, General Litigation Law, Dallas, TX (2007)

Speaking Engagements

“Navigating Protection of Attorney-Client and Work Product Privileges in Uncertain Times,” IADC Annual Meeting (July 2023)
“Practical Considerations for Preservation of Attorney-Client and Work Product Privilege in Light of In re Grand Jury,” TAA Annual Meeting (June 2023)
“Runaway Juries – Update on Juror Trends from Trial Counsel and the Jury Consultant Perspective,” TAA Annual Meeting (June 2023)
Moderator, “What’s Keeping You Up at Night?” Corporate Counsel Panel, TAA Annual Meeting (June 2023)
“Cautionary Tales from Recent Malpractice Cases,” IADC Professional Liability Roundtable (May 18, 2023)
“Corporate Counsel Futurecast: How Trends Today Will Shape Tomorrow’s Legal Practice,” 51st Trial Attorneys of America Annual Meeting (June 9, 2022)
“The Next Normal: Emerging Trends in a Post-COVID World,” IADC Professional Liability Roundtable (May 12, 2022)
“What’s Trending? Stay Ahead of the Curve with the Latest Trends, Tips, and Significant Cases in Professional Liability,” IADC Southwest Regional Meeting (April 2022)
“Owning Your Worth: How to Think about Salary, Negotiating Your Next Raise, and Why it Matters,” DRI Women in the Law Conference (January 28, 2022)

Related Services

Related News & Resources

Speaker Event

2025 IADC Annual Meeting

Steptoe & Johnson’s Melissa Matthews will moderate a panel on “Life in the Poin...

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