A Message from the President

• Citation: Vol. 38 No. 2
• Year: 2026

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Vol. 38 Issue 2 Pg. 6

South Carolina Lawyer

Summer, 2026

Welcome home!

BYNEKKI SHUTT

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. I'm giddy in anticipation. I can't wait to open. Here, it's not presents, though. Instead, it's anticipation of opening the S.C. Bar's new Headquarters and Conference Center at 169 Laurelhurst Avenue in Columbia. It's my honor to serve as Bar president this year and to get to welcome all of you to our new head quarters. You're going to love what you see. I personally guarantee it.

Imagine this. You're on your way to an in person CLE at the Bar. You're coming in on two wheels from Chester or Moncks Corner or Clio. But this time, unlike what we have experienced over the last seven years, you find 331 glorious parking spaces to choose from! Since 2019, we have only had 36 parking spaces at the Bar's Park Street conference center after the power company exercised its easement right and ate up 65 spots.

At our new headquarters, you'll also find some private wellness rooms to pump in or to close your eyes if you feel a migraine coming on. How do more bathroom stalls sound, ladies? One of the other things you'll notice is a lot more outdoor space to enjoy. Along the right-hand side of the building, there is a massive outdoor patio which seats 100 for CLEs or for our lunch breaks. There is also a dedicated mediation center with a private entrance, which members can rent for a nominal fee when you need neutral turf. You will love the convenience of the business center too: a huh where you can make copies, print documents, find a desk to use your computer, etc. Watch for the new AI / Technology lab which is coming soon too!

Moving out of downtown Columbia wasn't a decision we made easily. Midlands folks, I'm with you that it's going to be 10 minutes further than we are used to traveling to get to CLEs and section and committee meetings. The old headquarters was a three-minute walk from my law office in the Vista, so I feel your pain. However, when the House of Delegates voted last May to make this move, it was after four years of research and searching. We were landlocked at the old buildings. There was no way to build up or out without losing even more parking. There was no contiguous parking to buy or rent. We looked at many dreamy parcels of land, but building something new had about a $21 million price tag. Our new headquarters at Laurelhurst is the unicorn that we didn't imagine find

ing. It is a 4o,ooo-square-foot, Class A. conference center built in 1993 which triples our conference space, gives us all of the amenities I've listed above and. importantly, reunites our 6o-person Bar team under one roof so they can better collaborate to give members the top-notch services and programs that we strive for. And, we have accomplished all of this without raising bar dues even a penny.

Before I close, I must give credit to the people who got us here. In 2022, then-president Hagood Tighe stood up the Facilities Optimization Committee and deputized me and my committee to weigh options and to make recommendations. Many thanks to that committee for attending years of monthly meetings: Hagood, former USC Law Dean Robbie Wilcox, Robert Lewis, Brad Richardson, the Seed Architect team (John Powell, Mickie Hoover, Anna Marie Barfield), and Trinity Partners team (Rob Lapin, Roger Winn, Braden Shockley). Also, a giant hip, hip, hooray to our Executive Director Emma Dean for acting as general contractor for the last year, hard hat and all. No task was too small. At one point, I found Emma examining ceiling tiles in the new headquarters, deciding what could stay and what had to go. We could have no better steward for Bar funds than Emma.

So, welcome home, friends! I look forward to seeing you in the halls of our new headquarters. As ever, if I can be of service to you, call me or email me at (803) 904-7912 and nshutt© burnetteshutt.law.