Hon. Michelle H. Burns is currently a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Phoenix, Ariz., appointed to the bench on Mar. 1, 2007. Previously, she worked in the U.S. attorneys office, white collar crime unit, and before that spent 11 years in private practice. She started out her legal career as a county public defender. She has spent 22 years as a trial attorney, in both city, county and federal courts. Many of her cases were in the areas of complex securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy litigation. She has appeared several times before Arizona and the Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. She has been a member of the Horace Rumpole Inn of Court, the Arizona Judicial Performance Review Committee, and a lawyer delegate to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Education: 1981 B.A., University of Michigan; 1985 J.D., University of Toledo.
FBA Activities: Burns fulfilled the positions of secretary, treasurer, vice president, and president of the Phoenix Chapter of the FBA from 1998-2001. In 2003, she was placed on the board of the Federal Litigation Section, and became the editor of the section’s newsletter, Sidebar. She was elected chair of the Federal Litigation Section in 2004 and served until 2007. During her term as president of her chapter in 2001/2002, and as chair of the Litigation Section in 2005/2006, she received Presidential Citation and Excellence Awards from the National Organization. Previously, she served on the Chapter Activity Fund Committee, the Bench/Bar Committee, the Nominations and Elections Committee, and the Task Force on Sections and Divisions. In January 2008, she was appointed to fill the remaining 20 months of a resigning board member’s 3-year term on the FBA Board of Directors. In October, 2009, she was elected to serve a full 3-year term on the FBA Board of Directors.
FBA member since 1997.