Melanie J. Garner

Since joining The Garner Firm, Ltd. as Of Counsel in 2020, Ms. Garner has primarily represented employees in ERISA litigation involving individual and class claims and in other employment-related matters.

Prior to joining The Garner Firm, Ms. Garner represented plaintiffs and their family members helping them to recover millions of dollars in mass tort and personal injury cases in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and throughout the country.  Her representative clients include mesothelioma victims and those with occupational exposures to asbestos and other toxic chemicals in the workplace; workers who “blew the whistle” and reported Medicare and other fraud conducted by their employers against federal and state governments; former professional and college football players suffering from latent brain disease and other cognitive impairments, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (“CTE”), as a part of the NFL Concussion Litigation Settlement, as well as in connection with individual lawsuits filed against the NCAA and private universities; and those who have suffered various personal injuries, oftentimes leaving them disabled and limiting their ability to work and perform daily life activities.  

Ms. Garner graduated from the University of Miami School of Law and Flagler College.    

She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, as well as the United States District Courts for the District of Maryland, District of New Jersey and Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Garner has lectured at continuing legal education seminars on topics including asbestos exposure, mass torts, qui tam (whistleblower) litigation, social media evidence, and employee benefits matters.

She was nominated and selected by her peers as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2018 and 2019, and as Super Lawyer in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Outside of the office, Ms. Garner is a Member of the Board of Governors for the American Association for Justice and the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and is actively involved in a number of women lawyer groups.  She is also a Chapter Editor for the treatise "Employee Benefits Law" published by Bloomberg BNA.