“Based on my undergraduate coursework and work experience, I knew that I wanted to pursue a business career,” he says. “I also knew, however, that I wanted to study law and use that discipline in my career. This largely came from noting how many top business figures had legal backgrounds.” Burns was thrilled to learn that he had been accepted into the
Law School and looking at some old photographs,” Burns says. “I came across the group picture of the 1953 Cornell Law Quarterly and saw my grandfather sitting in the front row. That really had an impact on me, as I realized that I was carrying on a third generation legacy at Cornell Law School.”
prepared Burns for a summer associate position at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in 2011. “Like everyone on the Law School faculty, Professor Whitehead puts tremendous effort into his teaching, and his commitment to introducing more transactional and corporate law courses was a perfect fit for me as a student,” says Burns.
I remember walking down the Law Review hallway after I had just been accepted to the Law School and looking at some old photographs, I came across the group picture of the 1953 Cornell Law Quarterly and saw my grandfather sitting in the front row. That really had an impact on me, as I realized that I was carrying on a third generation legacy at Cornell Law School. — Brendan Burns’12
new, accelerated joint-degree program. Even as he helped to break new ground, however, he was also following in family footsteps. Father Douglas T. Burns ’83 and grandfather Arnold I. Burns ’53 “always raved about their great experiences” at Cornell Law. “I remember walking down the Law Review hallway after I had just been accepted to the
A current Cornell Law figure who came to have a great impact on Burns as his studies progressed was Professor Charles K. Whitehead. Burns was in the first class to take Whitehead’s Transactional Lawyering course and to participate in its culminating competition, which is the only intramural event of its kind in the country. Whitehead’s Business Organization and Securities Regulation courses
He found that his law and business studies complemented each other aptly. “Courses such as Income Taxation of Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions and International Mergers and Acquisitions meshed well with my courses in the Johnson School, providing… an invaluable perspective in terms of seeing business transactions through both a business and legal lens.”
In August, Burns joined the New York City office of Lazard Frères & Co, where he is sure to see plenty of transactions. He is working as an associate in the firm’s Restructuring Group, which advises financially distressed companies. True to form, Burns is excited about the job particularly because of its position “at the intersection of business and law. Restructuring bankers operate within the framework of the Bankruptcy Code and work closely with lawyers to develop unique solutions for their clients.” Also appealing is the complexity of restructuring deals: “A good resolution typically requires creativity and collaboration not only between the company and its creditors, but also among the different creditors and other involved parties.” And, of course, this thirdgeneration Cornell Law student and inaugural-class jointdegree scholar is excited to contribute to bigger things. Noting Lazard’s engagements with Eastman Kodak, American Airlines, and even the government of Greece, Burns observes, “The current landscape presents many opportunities to advise companies and governments with enormous impacts on our global economy.” n ~ Owen Lubozynski
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