Education
Professional Associations and Memberships
Work
Harris County District Attorney's Office, Assistant District Attorney (ADA)
Sean T. McAlister is a native Houstonian. He is a Class of 1996 graduate from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, with a double major in Finance and Accounting. While at Texas A&M University, he held various leadership positions in campus organizations and honed his writing skills as an opinion columnist for the University's student newspaper, The Battalion.
After graduating from Texas A&M, Mr. McAlister attended law school at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, and received his Juris Doctorate in 2000. While at SMU, he volunteered his time at the public defender's office in Dallas County.
After graduating from law school in 2000, he accepted a position with the Harris County District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney (ADA). Mr. McAlister spent six years at the Harris County District Attorney's Office honing his skills as an advocate and trial lawyer. During his tenure as an ADA, Mr. McAlister was a Chief Prosecutor at both the County Court and District Court levels.
In District Court, Mr. McAlister was responsible for handling the most serious felony cases, including Aggravated Robberies, Aggravated Sexual Assaults, and Murders. Mr. McAlister also spent a significant amount of time in the Juvenile Division, assigned to each of the three Juvenile District Courts in Harris County. He handled all aspects of juvenile cases, from stipulations to certification hearings and trials.
He has tried over 60 first-chair trials, ranging from 1st-degree felonies to Class C misdemeanors. While at the District Attorney's Office, he also handled three second-chair Capital Murder trials. As a prosecutor, he had an outstanding success rate at trial, with only two not-guilty verdicts in District Court.
Mr. McAlister is also a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, an honorary society of lawyers who are among the best-trained attorneys in Texas.
Mr. McAlister joined Shellist McAlister, LLP in December 2006. He became a partner in August 2007. He handles all types and levels of criminal offenses in both the juvenile and adult systems. He benefits from the strong reputation he has developed over his years of practice in the criminal justice system. His strongest attributes are strategic thinking, a strong work ethic, and emphasizing quality of representation over quantity of representation.
