Malissa Burnette among honorees in “Celebrating South Carolina Women”

As a Burnette Shutt & McDaniel co-founder, partner, and inspiration, Malissa Burnette has always been a leader at our firm. And now, she’s being recognized among leaders statewide in the latest update of “Celebrating South Carolina Women.”

The list, compiled annually by MidlandsBiz since 2024, coincides with Women’s History Month. Malissa is honored in the category of “Women Advocating for Equality and Justice.” It’s a fitting selection given that Malissa has devoted her adult life to that cause.

Malissa has decades of experience as a civil rights lawyer and was a South Carolina Supreme Court-certified employment law specialist for more than 35 years. But her fire to fight for justice for all was ignited long before her legal career began.

Her determination was sparked when she was a teenage waitress standing up to the Ku Klux Klan. Next, after earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology, she worked as a guard at a women’s prison, rising to the role of principal of the prison school. In that capacity, she worked to ensure that the women had the same educational opportunities as those available in men’s prisons.

She soon became involved in the women’s movement, serving as president of the local National Organization for Women chapter. It was then that she decided to go to law school because she wanted to do more.

She certainly has done more. Her decades-long legal resume lists landmark litigation that has changed lives. Her cases include lawsuits that allowed women to attend state-supported military academies and girls to play contact sports in South Carolina. She also was part of the legal team, along with Burnette Shutt & McDaniel co-founder Nekki Shutt, that successfully fought for marriage equality in South Carolina. Along with firm co-founder Kathleeen McDaniel and attorney Grant Burnette LeFever, she’s helped wage an on-going defense of reproductive healthcare rights in the state.