Robert J. Burns

Robert J. Burns is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's New York office and a member of the firm's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice. Mr. Burns is an experienced trial lawyer who focuses on navigating clients through complex business and commercial disputes, class action defense, shareholder and corporate governance matters, and antitrust and consumer protection cases.

Over more than two decades of broad litigation experience, Mr. Burns has represented a wide range of U.S. and foreign clients, including airlines, insurers, brokerages, manufacturers, financial institutions, trustees, and technology developers. He has deep experience in all phases of the litigation process – from pre-trial discovery and motion practice through trial and appeal. Mr. Burns has served as lead or co-lead counsel in more than 15 trials and arbitration hearings. He has briefed and argued numerous appeals before federal and state appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits, and New York's Court of Appeals and Appellate Divisions. He has also negotiated the resolutions of many major business and contract disputes short of formal litigation.

Mr. Burns serves as the New York office's representative on the firm's E-Discovery and Technology Committee. In that capacity, he counsels firm clients on e-discovery and data preservation best practices, the development of proactive litigation readiness and early case assessment strategies, and cutting-edge legal and technical developments in this evolving area. Mr. Burns has authored articles and delivered presentations on various aspects of the intersection of technology and law.

Mr. Burns' pro bono and community work includes legal work on behalf of the New York City Ballet, several New York City charter schools and several prominent immigrants' rights organizations.

Mr. Burns began his career in the litigation department of an Am Law 20 firm, where his work involved antitrust, securities and general commercial cases. Immediately prior to joining Holland & Knight in 2004, Mr. Burns worked as a solo practitioner in Boston, representing individual and business clients in a broad range of civil and criminal litigation matters. During his tenure at Holland & Knight, Mr. Burns was seconded for several months to the in-house legal department of a major London-based insurer, where he counseled claims and underwriting personnel on diverse litigation, transactional and coverage matters.

During law school, he received academic awards in the fields of contract law, property law, evidence, legal writing and New York practice.