Ms. Shani J.P. Butts joined the administration of The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law) in the fall of 2004 after practicing Bankruptcy and Civil Litigation with a small firm in Virginia. Assistant Dean Butts received her B.A. in Economics from The George Washington University in 1998 and her J.D. from Catholic Law in 2003. During law school Assistant Dean Butts served in leadership roles with the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, the Black Law Student Association, the Student Bar Association, and was one of two student members on the Admissions Committee.

Assistant Dean Butts serves in a variety of volunteer leadership roles with the Law School Admissions Council. She began her involvement with the LSAC as an annual meeting presenter in 2007 and has served as a member of the Services and Programs Committee from June 2009 to May 2011and the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee from June 2013 to May 2017. Assistant Dean Butts served as appointee-at-large on the LSAC Board of Trustees and as trustee liaison to the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee from June 2017 to June 2019. She served on the LSAC Candidates and Schools Committee from June 2019 – May 2021. Later serving as a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, chairing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Research and Data Workgroup from June 2021 to May 2023. Assistant Dean Butts currently serves on the LSAC Board of Trustees chairing the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) serving as programming chair for the PreLaw Education and Admission to Law School section. Additionally, Assistant Dean Butts is a founding member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) Legal Profession Chapter.

Assistant Dean Butts is licensed to practice in Virginia and the District of Columbia.