Susan N. Burke

Cases in this dataset

No docket records are linked to this judge.

This judge is listed from a court roster. State and local docket records are not loaded yet.

Career history

• Hennepin County District Court · Start not recorded to End not recorded

• 3rd in class, magna cum laude (3.98/4.00) Hanover College (1987) B.A.
• Diploma, 1st in class, summa cum laude (4.00/4.00) Manhattan High School (1983)
• University of Virginia School of Law (1990) J.D.

• Additional Information:Judge Burke has served as a state district court judge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, since January 3, 2005. ·
• Advisory Board, 2009-present ·
• Advisory Board, Minnesota Chapter, 2008-present ·
• Also taught classes for the Minnesota Institute of Legal Education (MILE), the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Minnesota Sheriffs Association, and the Minnesota State Association of Narcotics Investigators. ·
• Also volunteered in the past for the Minnesota Special Olympics, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Andersen Open School Board, the Hanover College Alumni Association Board of Directors, and the St. Paul Downtown Community District Council (non-partisan elected office). ·
• American Bar Association, Annual Convention, Standing Committee on Minorities in the Judiciary, Panel Member, “Achieving a Diverse Judiciary,” (San Francisco, CA), 2007 ·
• American Judges Association ·
• American Judges Foundation, Board of Trustees, 2009-present ·
• American Judicature Society member, 2009-present ·
• Appointments & Elections Committee, 2006-2008 ·
• Assignment History:Criminal & Civil, 8/2008-present ·
• Attorney Mentoring Program, 1998-2004 ·
• Bar Admissions:United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 3/18/1996 ·
• Bench & Bar Committee, 2006-2008 ·
• Board of Directors, 1995-1999, 2007-2009 ·
• Board of Directors, Fourth District Alternate Representative, 2008-present ·
• Board of Directors/Governing Council, 2001-2004 ·
• Board of Directors, Minnesota Chapter, 2000-2008 ·
• Board of Governors/Assembly, 2000-present ·
• Board of Judicial Standards Ad Hoc Committee, 2006-2008 ·
• Chair, Judicial Ethics Committee, 2008-2009 ·
• Co-Chair, Thomas Tang Central Regional Moot Court Competition, 2008 ·
• Community ActivitiesYWCA of Minneapolis, Board of Directors, 2008-present ·
• Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, Executive Council Retreat, Panel Member, “Leadership,” 2009 ·
• Criminal & Civil, 2004-7/2006 ·
• Criminal Law Committee, Co-Chair, 2001-2002 ·
• Criminal Law Seminar, Guest Speaker, “United States Sentencing Guidelines,” 2003-present ·
• Diversity Committee, 2000-2004 ·
• Executive Council, 2006-2008 ·
• Family Alternatives, Training for Foster Parents, 2008 ·
• Federal Bar Association- MN Chapter ·
• Fil (Filipino)-Minnesotan Association, Installation of the Board of Directors, 2008 ·
• From 1990-1992, Judge Burke served as a law clerk to the Honorable Paul A. Magnuson, United States District Court Judge for the District of Minnesota. She is a 1990 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1987, she graduated third in her class from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. ·
• Governance Task Force, 2002-2004 ·
• Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division, At-Large Council Member, 2009-present ·
• Hamline University School of Law Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, Dinner Speaker, “Achieving Success,” 2006 ·
• Hanover College Athletic Hall of Fame- inducted as the only student in college history to graduate with 12 varsity letters (volleyball, basketball & softball) and an Academic All-American nominee in volleyball & softball ·
• Hennepin County Bar Association ·
• Honors and Awards:National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Trailblazer Award- selected to receive one of this national bar association’s most prestigious awards in Boston in November 2009; recognizes extraordinary contribution to the Asian Pacific American legal community, as well as the broader Asian Pacific American community ·
• Judge Burke is the first and only Japanese American judge in Minnesota. On November 8, 2004, she became the first Asian American initially elected to the bench in Minnesota. ·
• Judge Burke was recently inducted into the Hanover College Athletic Hall of Fame for volleyball, basketball and softball. She was a two-time Academic All-American nominee, and was the only student in the college’s history to graduate with 12 varsity letters. ·
• Judge, Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition, 2005-present (Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia, Las Vegas) ·
• Judicial Council, 2004-present ·
• Judicial Division, Conference of State Trial Judges, 2007-present ·
• Judicial Endorsement Committee, 1999-2004 ·
• Judicial Law Clerk, Honorable Paul A. Magnuson, United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 1990-1992 ·
• Judicial Selection Task Force, 2002-2004 ·
• Juvenile, 7/2006-7/2008 ·
• Law Student Mentoring Program, 2000-2004 ·
• League of Women Voters, Leaders of Today and Tomorrow Conference, Speaker, 2006 ·
• Lt. Governor, Fourth Circuit, Law Student Division, 1989-1990 ·
• Member, 1991-present ·
• Member, 1992-present ·
• Member, 1996-present ·
• Member, 1998-present ·
• Member, 1999-present ·
• Member, 2005-present ·
• Minnesota County Attorneys Association, Advanced Termination of Parental Rights Trial Skills Course Faculty, 2008 ·
• Minnesota Delegate to the Assembly, 2007-2009 ·
• Minnesota District Judges Association ·
• Minnesota State Bar Association ·
• Minnesota Women Lawyers , Panel Member, “Advice to New Attorneys,” 2006 ·
• Minnesota Women Lawyers, Panel Member, “Balancing Life & Career,” 2008 ·
• Minnesota Women Lawyers, Panel Member, “Being a Judge,” 2006 ·
• Minnesota Women Lawyers, Panel Member, “Judicial Selection,” 2008 ·
• Minnesota Women Lawyers ·
• Minority Bar Summit Representative, 2000-present ·
• Myra Bradwell Award Selection Committee, 2002 ·
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association ·
• National Association of Asian American Professionals, Panel Speaker, Wells Fargo Corporate Headquarters, “Working Women: Shaping the Standard for Success,” 2007 ·
• National Hispanic Bar Association, Mid-Year Conference (Minneapolis, MN), Panel Speaker, “The Art of Jury Selection,” (Minneapolis, MN), 2007 ·
• National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA), Board of Trustees, 2009-present ·
• Nominating Committee, 2002-2005 ·
• Operations Committee, 2008-present ·
• Planning Committee, Retirement Dinner for Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, 2006 ·
• President, Minnesota Chapter, 2003-2004 ·
• Prior to her election to the bench, Judge Burke served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota from 1994-2004. From 1992-1994, she worked as a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch in Washington, D.C. She was one of approximately 30 attorneys hired through the Honors Program out of approximately 2,000 applicants in 1991. ·
• Professional Memberships and Activities:American Bar Association ·
• Professional Presentations:American Judges Association, Annual Educational Conference: Introduction of Cynthia Gray, Director of American Judicature Society Center for Judicial Ethics, “Top 10 Recent Judicial Ethics Cases,” (Las Vegas, NV), 2009 ·
• Public Law Section, 2000-2004 ·
• St. Thomas University School of Law Asian Law Student Association, Dinner Speaker, 2006 ·
• St. Thomas University School of Law, Trial Advocacy, Adjunct Faculty, 2008 ·
• State of Minnesota Guardian ad Litem Program, Swearing In Ceremony, 2007 ·
• Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii, 12/7/1990 ·
• Supreme Court of the State of Minnesota, 8/20/1992 ·
• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Race for the Cure, 2006 and 2007 ·
• Teaching:University of Minnesota Law School ·
• Title III Wiretap Seminar, Instructor, 2001-2003 ·
• Trial Advocacy Course, Guest Instructor, 2001-present ·
• Trial Advocacy School, Instructor, 2002-2004 ·
• Trial Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Honors Program, Washington, D.C., 1992-1994 ·
• Twin Cities Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners, “Presenting Complex Fraud Cases,” 2008 ·
• Twin Cities Committee on Minority Lawyers and Larger Law Firms, Minority Recruitment Conference, Judicial Clerkship Panel Member, 2004-2006 ·
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Discussion leader for a group of the first women judges appointed to the Egyptian judiciary on judicial decision-making and role of a judge, (Cairo, Egypt), 2008 ·
• United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, Criminal Division, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1994-2004 ·
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 12/7/1992 ·
• United States Department of Justice National Advocacy Center (Columbia, S.C.) ·
• United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, 10/31/1994 ·
• University of St. Thomas School of Law, Multicultural Reception Speaker, “Access To Justice,” 2006 ·
• University of Virginia Law School ABA/LSD Representative, 1989-1990 ·
• University of Virginia Law School Chapter President, 1989-1990 ·
• While at the Department of Justice, Judge Burke was the first to litigate a case interpreting the John F. Kennedy Records Collection Act of 1992. She defended the FBI when Jimmy Hoffa’s daughter sued the FBI to close its investigation of Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance. Judge Burke also litigated nine cases against Adam Walinsky and Ann Coulter. ·
• William Mitchell College of Law Latino Law Student Association, Panel Speaker, “The Invisible Woman: Report of the ABA Commission of Women in the Profession,” 2007 ·
• William Mitchell College of Law, Panel Speaker, “Judicial Clerkships,” 2007 and 2008 ·
• Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, Joint Dinner of Women Professional Associations, Panel Member, “Pipeline to Power: Increasing Women’s Leadership,” 2006 ·

Sources and corrections

• state-mn-roster · 2026-10-07

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