Biography:
Sheila Willis practices management-side employment law. She is committed to finding practical, real world solutions to her clients’ employment law needs. She frequently advises clients regarding hiring, discipline, investigations, and other related issues. Sheila has extensive experience working on collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and class actions under wage and hour state laws. Sheila also handles matters related to employment discrimination, wage and hour litigation, OFCCP compliance, unemployment proceedings, as well as providing training for supervisors and managers on harassment, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) compliance, the Family Medical Leave Act and many other areas.
Sheila is involved in various professional and community activities. She is a past President and is on the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Women Lawyers’ Association (SCWLA). Sheila also is very active in the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers’ Division, serving as its President. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Columbia – Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Sheila is active in the Richland County Bar, American Bar Association, and is a member of the Junior League of Columbia.
Prior to attending law school, Sheila was a member of store leadership for a Fortune 500 retail company, providing employee supervision and managing a variety of employee issues related to wage and hour, workers’ compensation, discrimination issues, performance management, and other personnel issues.
Sheila is a 2019 recipient of the Silver Compleat lawyer Award from the University of South Carolina School of Law Alumni Association. This award recognizes alumni who have made significant contributions to the legal profession and who exemplify the highest standard of professional competence, ethics, and integrity.
She has also been named to the Columbia Regional Business Report’s list of 2018 Women of Influence, Columbia Business Monthly’s 2018 Best and Brightest 35 and Under, Columbia Business Monthly’s Legal Elite of the Midlands in 2017 and the American Bar Association’s On the Rise – Top 40 under 40 in 2018. She is also a 2018 South Carolina Super Lawyers – Rising Star and a 2019 recipient of the Leadership in the Law award. She was awarded the Johnathon Jasper Wright Award by The Honorable Matthew J. Perry Chapter of the Black Law Students Association at the University of South Carolina School of Law, is a three-time recipient of the President’s Award a and a four-time recipient of the Start of the Quarter award from the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers’ Division.
