Posted in: Lawyers › None
South Carolina ETV has selected Burnette Shutt & McDaniel co-founder M. Malissa Burnette as one of 11 honorees of the 2020 South Carolina ETV “Women Vision SC” program. The 11 women, selected from a pool of 90, come from a wide range of professions, including education, government, law, business, healthcare and media.
Burnette has a long history of fighting for social justice and equal rights. She’s litigated multiple landmark civil rights cases, including a U.S. Supreme Court case that paved the way for women to attend state-supported military schools, and a United States District Court case that allows girls to play contact sports in public schools. Burnette, along with firm co-founder Nekki Shutt, led the fight that brought marriage equality to the Palmetto State.
In addition to her hard work on the front lines of equality and justice, Burnette stays active in the South Carolina Bar Senior Lawyers Division and the SC Bar Pro Bono Program. She is past chair of SLD and currently serves as chair of the SLD’s Lawyers Assistance Program. Burnette has presented CLE seminars for the Bar, penned dozens of articles, taught employment law for the SC Bar Law School for Non-Lawyers and is the co-author and editor of all four editions of Labor and Employment Law for South Carolina Lawyers. She was honored with the 2019 Compleat Lawyer award and the 2019 Senior Lawyer Division’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year award. Her long list of accomplishments and passionate involvement with the community continue to land her on ‘best of’ lists year after year.
“I owe a debt to all those in my life who have helped me learn from my mistakes, who were there through the tough times as well as the joyous occasions, and who set an example with their enduring passion for justice,” Burnette said. “I am grateful to be included among such a diverse group of women leaders.”
Burnette offers advice to the next generation in her interview with SC ETV saying, “Find out what your dream is, aim for that, but know that you might have to do a lot of other things first. It’s not a straight line and you might zigzag until you get there – but those are just life experiences and you build on it.”
Watch the presentation of the Women in Vision SC awards during the hour-long ETV special, “Women in SC: Finding Our Voice” on July 2 at 8:30 p.m. Columbia attorney and City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine, who is a leading expert and speaker on work-life integration for busy working moms, is also one of the honorees. See her full interview here.