Burgess and Burgess

LAURENCE C. BURGESS

Laurence C. Burgess graduated from Wayne State University in 1964 and from Wayne State Law School in 1967 where he was the recipient of the Lederle Scholarship for three years.  He was also the recipient of the Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Laurence has been in the private practice of law for 43 years and currently practices with his son, David M. Burgess.  During his years of practicing law, he has successfully defended clients in several high profile criminal cases, including the Ann Arbor Filipino nurse’s murder case, in which charges were dismissed against his client.  He is an experienced defense attorney and has successfully defended clients charged with all types of criminal offenses, including assault cases, homicides, major narcotics cases and all types of theft cases.  He has also handled all types of white collar offenses, including all varieties of fraud, complex theft cases and regulatory violations in both state and federal court.  His trial experience consists of hundreds of felony jury trials, countless more bench trials, a wide array of evidentiary hearings, as well as a variety of contested motions and all other miscellaneous court proceedings.

Laurence is active in the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, where he has been a member since its inception in 1976 and on the Board of Directors.  He also served on various committees and has participated in seminars as a trial practice workshop instructor, lecturer and as a participant in trial demonstrations.  He is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense, and the Detroit Bar Association, where he was a past Chairperson of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.  He is a member of the Wayne County Criminal Bar Association and has served as a past Vice-President of that organization.  He is also a panel member of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.           

Laurence is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

DAVID M. BURGESS

David M. Burgess graduated from Wayne State University in 1993 and from Thomas M. Cooley law School in 1998.  While in law school, he was on both the honor roll and dean’s list and was active in Moot Court Competitions.  During his last semester of law school and through the beginning of 1999, he interned at the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office.  There, he tried a number of cases as a prosecutor, and established a good working knowledge of the court system, as well as the people involved in it.  In early 1999, David began working at the State Defender’s office in Wayne County.  There, he handled a high volume of felony criminal cases, ranging from low level narcotics cases to murder cases.  He learned how the court system worked from the defense perspective, and how to navigate his client’s successfully through that process.  In early 2001, David joined his father in private practice.

David is an experienced defense attorney who has been representing clients charged with matters ranging from civil infractions to felony offenses for over twelve years.  David has handled narcotics cases, all types of assault matters, including murder cases, theft cases, white collar cases as well as drunk driving and other traffic related offenses.  David’s trial experience consists of more than 200 jury trials, including 25 murder trials and 80 capital trials.  David has also tried countless more bench trials and has conducted a variety of complex evidentiary hearings, and other contested motions.  David has also handled numerous cases in federal court ranging from narcotics cases to white collar crimes.  He recently appeared in U.S. District in New York to handle a narcotics conspiracy case and a very complex wire fraud matter.  He has obtained very favorable results in his federal cases.

David is active in National Association of Criminal Defense lawyers and the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, where he serves on the Legislative Committee.  He is also a member of the State bar of Michigan and the Wayne County Bar Association.  He has also served as a panel member at the Attorney Discipline Board.

 David is admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  He has also been admitted to practice pro hac vice in both the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.