Event Information

Amy Gaffney

 Gaffney Lewis ADR

Amy has been a certified mediator since 1995 and is a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. As a litigator, Amy has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 2012 in Employment Law and Litigation and in 2019 was recognized as Lawyer of the Year for her work in Labor and Employment Litigation by the publication. Amy has an AV Peer Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Amy has presided over mediation cases at the state and federal levels and has been involved in the resolution of hundreds of cases spanning fields such as Employment, Contract, Tort, and more. Amy draws on her litigation experience to provide comprehensive insight on each specific case and create a clear, communicative atmosphere that provides the parties the necessary platform to craft a satisfactory resolution.

In her litigation practice, Amy is one of the founding members of GaffneyLewis, LLC, one of South Carolina’s only women-owned, ethnically diverse law firms certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. Amy is considered one of the top employment litigators in the country, representing clients in a variety of employment matters ranging from collective actions on behalf of public and private employees, individual claims of discrimination and harassment, to injured clients in personal injury and civil rights cases.

Education:

Bachelor of Arts Degree
Communication, General
Queens College (now Queens University
of Charlotte), Magna Cum Laude, 1991
Juris Doctor Degree
University of South Carolina School of
Law, 1994
 

Mr. Matthews is certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a Specialist in Employment & Labor Law.  He is also a certified mediator, and often mediates employment claims. 

From April 2000 to March 2004, Mr. Matthews was General Counsel and Deputy Director for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS).  From 1999 to 2000, he was Deputy Director for Labor at the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation (LLR).  Prior to state service, from 1995 to 1999, Mr. Matthews practiced law with Kilpatrick Stockton, L.L.P. 

Mr. Matthews has previously served as the Chairman of the South Carolina Bar’s Employment & Labor Law Section, and has also served on the Employment & Labor Law Specialization Advisory Board of the S.C. Commission on CLE and Specialization.  He is a member of the South Carolina Bar and North Carolina Bar 

Mr. Matthews received a B.A. summa cum laude from Furman University, an M.A. in International Relations from Yale University, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.  Prior to attending law school, Mr. Matthews served with the Central Intelligence Agency.  In 2019, he retired as a Captain from the U.S. Navy Reserve.

A certified specialist in labor and employment law, Nekki Shutt has been involved in the employment / human resources field for more than 35 years, beginning with her work in the human resources department of a publicly-traded property and casualty insurance company. Nekki eventually became the company’s corporate recruiter, responsible for hiring approximately 225 employees on an annual basis as well as managing its temporary workforce. This is her 29^th year practicing law. 

While Nekki earned her juris doctor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, she worked as a graduate assistant in what is now the Master’s in Human Resources Program at the USC Darla Moore School of Business. She also clerked for the law firm that represented the insurer where she had previously been employed. Since then, Nekki has built on her human resources experience and developed a civil litigation practice with an emphasis on employee benefits (ERISA) and employment law. From 2000 to 2005, she also was an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, teaching a course for third-year law students entitled “Diversity and the Law,” emphasizing social justice issues involving race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and the poor.  More than six years ago, Nekki, Malissa Burnette, and Kathleen McDaniel founded Burnette Shutt & McDaniel, PA, a progressive law firm with employment law, civil rights, and civil litigation as its focus.  Notably, the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law recently selected their law firm as the recipient of 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Distinguished Service Award. 

                                    Nekki frequently has received professional recognition and honors. She is secretary of the SC Bar’s Board of Governors and in the House of Delegates.  She chaired the SC Bar’s Labor and Employment Section in 2010, and has served on its  executive  committee for 15 plus years.  For the past five years, she has been named “Lawyer of the Year” in ERISA Litigation by peers through Best Lawyers.  She was the 2018 Recipient of the Civic Star Award from the Richland County Bar Association. She was a 2016 honoree by South Carolina Lawyers Weekly for Leadership in the Law. The University of South Carolina School of Law Alumni Association awarded her the James Petigru Compleat Lawyer Award, Silver Medallion in 2005. Her peers have selected her for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2010 to present in the field of labor and employment law. She’s also continuously educates others in her field through her writing and seminar presentations like “Modern Family I and II” on protecting LGBT clients, “Against the Wind: a history of the civil rights movement in South Carolina as told through case law and testimony,” and 10 years of the annual Fundamentals of Employment Law in South Carolina, one of the SC Bar’s Essential Series. Nekki authored the ERISA chapters in the Labor and Employment Law for South Carolina Lawyer 2007, 2011, 2019, and 2024 editions. She also is the author of a chapter on employment law for Paralegal Survival Guide, published by South Carolina Bar Association in 2010. 

Nekki was one of the lead attorneys in Condon v. Haley, the 2014 federal lawsuit which made South Carolina the 35 state to recognize marriage equality in the country.

Judge Shiva V. Hodges was appointed to the bench of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina as a Magistrate Judge in 2010, where she has presided over bench and jury trials while managing employment discrimination and other civil cases, social security appeals, habeas corpus petitions, and prisoner civil rights actions. Additionally, Judge Hodges’s criminal duties include initial appearances, arraignments, detention/bond hearings, criminal complaints, search warrants, and grand jury matters. In addition to her formal role as a Magistrate Judge, she routinely handles mediations at the request of District Judges and federal practitioners. Before her appointment, Judge Hodges served as a career law clerk for six years to then-Chief District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. Prior to entering public service, she was a litigator for Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP, handling employment disputes, general civil disputes, and bankruptcy matters, practicing in the federal and state courts of South Carolina and North Carolina.

She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of South Carolina’s Honors College, a Juris Doctor from the USC School of Law, and a Master in International Business Studies (Italian track) from the Darla Moore School of Business.

Judge Hodges taught Advanced Legal Writing at the USC School of Law from 2013–2016 and is active in legal education and mentoring programs for lawyers and students. She is a frequent speaker on a variety of topics, including employment law issues, e-discovery, ethics and social media, and evidentiary pitfalls. Judge Hodges enjoys judging mock trials and arguments, including at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center and middle and high school competitions.

Education:   

University of South Carolina School of Law, Columbia, South Carolina

Juris Doctor (May 2000)

University of South Carolina, Darla Moore School of Business, Columbia, South Carolina

Master of International Business Studies (MIBS) (May 2000)

Italian Track with Concentration in Management

Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Graduate School of Economics, Management, and Law, Milan, Italy (May–July 1998)        

University of South Carolina Honors College, Bachelor of Science, Biology major, Chemistry cognate (May 1996)

Licenses:

•        South Carolina Bar 2001 

•        North Carolina Bar 2000 (inactive)

Selected Professional Associations and Community Involvement    

•        Lawyers Without Borders Judges Advisory Council (2021–present)

•        Federal Magistrate Judges Association Executive Board of Directors: Vice President (2022), Treasurer (2021), Secretary (2020); Fourth Circuit Director (2017–2020); Chair of Budget and Finance Committee, Chair of History and Archives Committee, Chair of Magistrate Judge Caseload Analysis Committee, member of Diversity Committee, International Committee, Civics Education Committee, Convention Planning Committee

•        Leadership South Carolina Board of Directors (2020–present); Graduate of Class of 2018

•        Federal Bar Association

•        Richland County Bar Association

•        South Carolina Women Lawyers Association

•        Kosmos Town and Gown member (2020–present)  

•        Presiding judge over United States Probation Officer Investiture Ceremonies

•        Regular host to groups visiting federal courthouse (2004–2022)

•        Speaker and presiding judge in mock trials for the National Advocacy Center’s U.S. Attorneys training, the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorney Association, middle and high school competitions

•        Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics Alumni, former member Alumni Association Board of Directors

Publications:       

•       Authored thousands of opinions and orders since 2010 in federal civil cases, most available on Westlaw, Lexis/Nexis, and PACER

•        Forthcoming book on Social Security law and practice (expected 2023)

•        A Measured Approach to E-Discovery: A Federal Practitioner’s Guide to the Civil and Ethical Rules Governing E-Discovery, 64 S.C. L. Rev. 755 (2013)

•        South Carolina Lawyer July 2005 article: “Getting With the Program: Electronic Case Filing in the District of South Carolina,” co-authored with Virginia L. Vroegop, Esq.

•        Editorial Board, Appellate Practice in South Carolina (2d ed.) by Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal, Shahin Vafai, Esq., and Robert A. Muckenfuss, Esq. (SC Bar CLE Publication 2002)

•        Editorial Board of An ECF Survival Guide: Electronic Case Filing in the United States District Court for the District Court of South Carolina by Wyche, Burgess, Freeman & Parham, P.A. (SC Bar CLE Publication 2005)

•        Contributor to Best Friends at the Bar: What Women Need to Know About a Career in the Law by Susan Blakely, Esq. (Aspen Legal Publishers, 2009)

•        Assisted with Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr.’s speech to the South Carolina Rule of Law Conference, a program of the World Justice Project sponsored by the American Bar Association (National Advocacy Center October 11, 2007)

•        Assisted with The Lost Art: An Advocate’s Guide to Effective Closing Argument (3d ed.) by Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. (SC Bar CLE Publication 2008)

•        Assisted with Effective Courtroom Advocacy by Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. (NITA 2009)

Selected Speaking Engagements and Honors:

•        2020 Matthew J. Perry Civility Award, Richland County Bar Association

•        Cochair for April 2023 Roadways to the Bench Event in Columbia, SC

•        Hilton Head Bar Association Super CLE speaker on Tips from the Bench (2/7/22)

•        Leadership South Carolina speaker on Implicit Bias: How it affects decisions (9/9/21, 9/9/20)

•        2020 SC Bar Convention panelist for Corporate, Banking, and Securities Section on Implicit Bias and How to Address it to Better Serve Your Clients (1/24/20)

•        2019 Annual Judicial Conference: Staff Attorneys and Law Clerks session panelist on Implicit Bias (9/17/19)

•        USC School of Law Employment Law Society, Inaugural Speaker on Federal Employment Practice (2/25/19)

•        Women in Law/Richland County Bar Association Panel Speaker (2/20/19)

•        2019 South Carolina Women Lawyers Association Annual Conference Federal Practice: Advice from the Bench (11/8/19)

•        South Carolina Supreme Court Institute: Teacher Training on Federal Courts (2017–present)

•        Federal Bar Association Summer Associates Seminar at Matthew J. Perry Courthouse, Presenter (2007–2019)

•        Bridge the Gap, Federal Court Practice in South Carolina, Speaker (three times per year 2010–2017)

•        Carolinas Business Litigation Year in Review: A View from the Bench (2/9/18)

•        Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Lecturer of five-part Series on Faith and Technology: Raising Families in a Tech-Savvy World (2018)

•        SC Bar Employment Law Essentials CLE, Litigating Employment Law Claims, Speaker (2014–2019)

•        SC Bar Webcast Wednesday, Speaker, A Pragmatic Approach to Federal Practice (10/4/2017)

•        2016 Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference Magistrate Judges meeting speaker, 2015 Federal Rule Changes

•        2016 Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting panelist, Emerging Issues in Electronic Discovery (11/8/16)

•        South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association speaker: Ethics and Social Media (5/1/2016)

•        USC School of Law Tech Series speaker: Blurred Lines: Social Media and Ethics (9/2/2015)

•        USC School of Law Class Reunion, CLE speaker: Ethics and Social Media (10/17/14)

•        Guest Lecturer for various classes at USC School of Law, including Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr.’s Evidence class, Professor Eichhorn’s Advanced Civil Procedure class, Professor Leonardi’s Legal Writing and E-discovery classes, Professor Durant’s E-discovery class, Professor Virzi’s Legal Writing class, Judge Lockemy’s American Legal History, and USC Honors College pre-law courses

•        South Carolina Association for Justice CLE speaker: Social Security: A View from the Bench (8/5/21, 8/7/14), Employment Law (8/2/18, 7/28/17)

•        South Carolina Law Review E-discovery Symposium panelist: Ethical Challenges in E-Discovery: Passwords, Privilege, Profiles, & Beyond (3/1/13)

•        SC Bar Law School for Journalists speaker on Federal Courts (12/12/12)

•        National Advocacy Center Federal Guidelines Seminar speaker: Ethical Issues for CJA Panel Attorneys (9/24/12)

•        E-Discovery CLE panelist in Charlotte, NC, Where Reality Meets the Law (1/18/12)

•        South Carolina Legal Services CLE speaker in Myrtle Beach, SC, Federal Practice in South Carolina (11/09/11)

•        NC/SC Labor and Employment Law Conference panelist in Charleston, SC, Insight from the Federal Bench (10/22/11)

•        Recipient, Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics Outstanding Alumna of the Year Inaugural Award, Inducted graduating students into the GSSM Alumni Association (5/28/11)

•        Girl Scouts Women of Distinction Dinner in Columbia, SC, Keynote Speaker (4/26/11)

•        South Carolina Law Review Symposium panelist in Columbia, SC, Judicial Ideology: Responses to How Judges Think by Richard Posner (10/22/10)

Personal

•        Naturalized American Citizen

•        Conversant in Farsi (Persian) and Italian, some French

•        Married to employment attorney R. Hayne Hodges III

•        Cooking, reading, traveling, and sports

•        Heathwood Hall Episcopal School Lacrosse play-by-play announcer 

Tara Nixon graduated from Augusta State University in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in History and a minor in Political Science. Prior to graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2014, she served in executive positions with a variety of non-profit organizations, including Habitat for Humanity and the University Hospital Foundation, and taught middle school English. Following law school, Tara served as a Staff Attorney for the South Carolina Supreme Court before transitioning to a private defense firm where she practiced in the areas of labor and employment law, municipal law, and education law. In 2016, she joined the South Carolina School Boards Association as Staff Attorney, where she provided policy and legal services to South Carolina’s school districts and frequently presented on topics including a wide variety of employment law issues, FOIA, the South Carolina Ethics Act, and Roberts Rules of Order. She obtained a master’s degree in Political Management with a concentration in Advocacy Politics from The George Washington University in 2019. Tara worked for the South Carolina Administrative Law Court as a Staff Attorney, and currently serves as Assistant Labor Counsel for the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation. She is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association’s Administrative Law Committee, teaches yoga, and enjoys spending time with her three rescue pit bull terriers.