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Principal Attorney
Shaunté is an experienced and competent trial attorney that focuses on advising and advocating for clients with complex civil and commercial litigation matters. Her civil and commercial litigation experience runs the gamut from everyday legal problems such as torts, consumer and landlord tenant issues to more complex matters such as breach of contract, fraud, and negligence.
Her transactional practice focuses on entrepreneurs, start-ups and small business owners in the entertainment, sports and cannabis industries. She is experienced in all aspects of entertainment law such as representing clients in deals with major record labels, music distributors and publishers; terminating unfair record deals and management contracts; recouping royalties owed to artists and obtaining copyright reversions to the original owner; and negotiating talent agreements for reality tv appearances, major motion picture roles and sponsorship deals. Shaunté advocates for creators to receive just compensation for their talent and creative works, in addition to teaching creators how to protect, monetize and manage their intellectual property.
Shaunté is a native Washingtonian whose community ties fuel her dedication to clients. She earns her client’s trust by offering competent and compassionate client-centered representation. You will find her making appearances at events, conferences, workshops and on podcasts where she empowers the community through her legal education initiatives. Shaunté, has served her community through volunteering at small business expos, providing consultations to entrepreneurs, facilitating Know Your Rights trainings to DC youth in DC public schools, at the Oak Hill Youth Detention Facility, and The Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services.
After earning her Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics from The University of Maryland, College Park, Shaunté attended American University-Washington College of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate. While in law school, she worked with Professor Pamela D. Bridgewater to design and implement the Roots and Reality Symposium which explored the connection between grassroots organizing and social justice lawyering. Shaunté worked as a law clerk for the DC Public Defender Service (PDS) in the Community Defender Division, where she counseled clients on records expungement, locating public services for community re-entry, and oversaw the planning, programming, and production of the PDS Annual Expungement Summit, which assists ex-offenders with expunging their criminal records.
She has volunteered internationally as a human rights organizer and attorney with El Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Hatiana in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, providing legal assistance to Dominicans of Haitian descent, who were effectively rendered stateless by Dominican constitutional amendments, and helped prepared cases for a brief to the International Court of Justice. While working on the Navajo Reservation with the Navajo Nation DNA People’s Legal Services Association, she researched and drafted memoranda on indigenous property issues related to posthumous property title and non-indigenous land encroachment into the Navajo nation.