The ALI is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law. The organization drafts, discusses, revises and publishes Restatements of the Law, model statutes and principles of law that are enormously influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education.
Membership in the ALI is limited to 3,000 elected members, not including life, honorary and ex-officio members. ALI nominations are made confidentially by a current member and must be supported by two additional members. Candidates must demonstrate excellence in the law, be of high character, contribute to the work of the Institute and be committed to the ALI’s mission to clarify and improve the law.
Bursch is the only Michigan attorney to be elected to ALI this year and the third attorney in the history of the firm to be elected.
ALI President Roberta Cooper Ramo said she was “proud and confident” Bursch and the other new members “will strengthen and broaden our intellectual bench, and that their distinguished accomplishments and diverse experience will advance our mission and our work.”
Bursch concentrates his practice in appellate advocacy and co-chairs the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice. He has argued nine cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, 18 cases before the Michigan Supreme Court, and dozens of additional cases in the Michigan Court of Appeals and federal and state appellate courts across the country. He is certified as an appellate specialist by the American Institute of Appellate Practice.
Bursch is a four-time winner of the Distinguished Brief Award for Michigan Supreme Court briefing from the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review, and he is a three-time winner of the National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award for U.S. Supreme Court briefing. He was named by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of its 2014 “Leaders in the Law,” has been named to Best Lawyers in America and is one of the Top 100 Michigan Super Lawyers.
Bursch is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and a past chair of the American Bar Association’s Council of Appellate Lawyers. Bursch has been widely published, serving as the primary author of the Michigan Supreme Court’s Guide to Counsel, the Court’s own publication regarding Supreme Court advocacy. He has also contributed a chapter to the Michigan Appellate Handbook. Bursch also launched and contributes regularly to the One Court of Justice Blog, the leading blog that covers the Michigan appellate courts.
Bursch was a Medallion Scholar and a member of the Lee Honors College at WMU. He received his doctor of jurisprudence magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School. A native of Grand Ledge, Bursch now makes his home in Grand Rapids with his wife, Angela, and their children.
About Warner Norcross
By providing discerning and proactive legal advice, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP forges a better partnership with its clients. Warner Norcross is a corporate law firm with 230 attorneys practicing in eight offices throughout Michigan: Grand Rapids, Holland, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Macomb County, Midland, Muskegon and Southfield. To learn more, visit www.wnj.com, follow us on Twitter @WNJLLP or connect on LinkedIn.
Press Release and image courtesy Warner Norcross & Judd LLP