Burnette honored with Pro Bono award from South Carolina Bar
January 30, 2020
M. Malissa Burnette, a founding partner of Burnette Shutt & McDaniel, received the South Carolina Bar Senior Lawyers Division Pro Bono Award during the organization’s annual convention.
The honor recognizes the significant amount of time, energy and talent an attorney spends providing free legal services.
“Even before she became my law partner a decade ago, Malissa Burnette was someone I looked up to, not only for her impressive legal skills but for her commitment to helping others,” firm co-founder Nekki Shutt said. “This is a well-deserved honor.”
A South Carolina Supreme Court Certified Specialist in Employment and Labor Law, Burnette has a decades-long history of volunteering her time to help those who can’t afford legal services. She’s represented clients in precedent-setting cases, and she’s stepping in to prevent an unlawful firing for a single individual.
She’s litigated more than 20 pro bono cases over the course of her 43-year legal career, including the case that paved the way for marriage equality in South Carolina. When she and Shutt were awarded attorney’s fees in that case, they donated the money to SC Equality.
Burnette also regularly responds to questions posted online at the American Bar Association’s Free Legal Answers web site. She serves in mentoring programs through the South Carolina Bar and the University of South Carolina School of Law, taking the opportunity to emphasize pro bono work as an important part of the practice of law.
About Burnette Shutt & McDaniel, PA
Located in Columbia’s historic business district, Burnette Shutt & McDaniel, PA’s attorneys are licensed to practice in all South Carolina courts and at all levels of federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. The firm represents clients in a range of areas, including employment and environmental law. They also handle employee benefits and ERISA matters, civil rights cases, privacy and data protection issues and government matters such as eminent domain, land use and zoning. Learn more at burnetteshutt.law.
