Another impressive Best Lawyers showing for Burnette Shutt & McDaniel
Eleven attorneys from Burnette Shutt & McDaniel, including every partner, are honored in the just-released 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America and its companion guide, Best Lawyers: One to Watch. It’s another record showing for the firm.
Firm co-founder Malissa Burnette earned her fifth Lawyer of the Year award for the Columbia area, this one in Employment Law – Individuals. Co-founder Nekki Shutt again displayed amazing versatility, earning Best Lawyers honors in nine practice areas.
The majority of the Burnette Shutt & McDaniel honorees were included in at least two practice areas. Though employment law-related fields account for many of the awards, the attorneys are recognized across more than a dozen practice areas, including civil rights, criminal law, commercial litigation, land use and zoning, education law, family law, and qui tam whistleblower law.
“We’re incredibly proud of the talented team at Burnette Shutt & McDaniel,” Malissa Burnette said. “Certainly, our firm is well-known for our record in civil rights and employment law, but the sheer variety of practice areas in which our attorneys are recognized is a tribute to the diversity of our skills.”
The attorneys and their practice areas:
Malissa Burnette: Employment Law – Individuals Lawyer of the Year, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Civil Rights Law, Education Law, and Mediation.
Nekki Shutt: Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Litigation – ERISA, Employment Law – Individuals, Employment Law – Management, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Civil Rights Law, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, Qui Tam Law.
Kathleen McDaniel: Land Use and Zoning Law and Administrative/Regulatory Law.
Jack Cohoon: Employment Law – Individuals and Litigation – Labor and Employment.
Amanda Mueller: Family Law.
Stuart Andrews: Health Care Law and Qui Tam Law.
Ashley Pennington: Criminal Defense: General Practice.
Janet Rhodes: Employment Law – Individuals and Litigation – Labor and Employment.
Grant Burnette LeFever – Ones to Watch: Civil Rights Law, Education Law, Family Law, Labor and Employment Law – Employee, Labor and Employment Law – Management, and Litigation – Labor and Employment.
Sarah Cox – Ones to Watch: Appellate Practice, Civil Rights Law, Labor and Employment Law – Employee, and Litigation – Labor and Employment.
Annie Day Bame – Ones to Watch: Civil Rights Law.
Burnette Shutt & McDaniel has a long record of success in Best Lawyers. Andrews was first included in 2003 and Burnette has been honored yearly since 2005. From the time of the firm’s founding, Burnette Shutt & McDaniel also has been consistently cited in Best Law Firms in America. The 2025 edition of Best Law Firms will be released in November.
About Best Lawyers
For more than 40 years, Best Lawyers in America has served as an annual guide to the nation’s leading attorneys. The selection process for Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch, which recognizes attorneys who have practiced for less than 10 years, includes evaluations from other attorneys in the same cities and practice areas. It also includes independent research. The attorney with the highest overall peer feedback is designated as the Lawyer of the Year.