Denise M. Burke, Esq.
Vice President & Legal Director
Denise M. Burke, Esq., joined Americans United for Life (AUL) as staff counsel in February 2000 and became AUL's Legal Director in 2005. She directs all aspects of AUL's legal program including legislative drafting and consulting, the development of new model legislation, and litigation in support of life-affirming laws. She also serves as Editor-in-Chief of Defending Life, AUL's comprehensive annual guide to pro-life state legislation.
Burke regularly consults with legislators and has testified before numerous state legislative committees. When abortion industry lawyers file court challenges, Burke assists the offices of state attorneys general by providing strategic litigation advice and drafting and filing amicus briefs.
In addition, Burke has lectured on abortion-related topics at all educational levels, published articles on the negative impact of abortion, and frequently served as a pro-life media spokesperson. Drawing on her extensive litigation experience, Burke has crafted advocacy training material for pro-life attorneys and has served as a faculty member at litigation training sessions hosted by Christian public-interest organizations.
Before joining AUL, Burke served for six years as a judge advocate general (JAG) in the United States Air Force and briefly as an assistant district attorney with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office in San Antonio, Texas. Her extensive litigation experience was gained as a county prosecutor, military prosecutor, military defense counsel, and special assistant United States attorney. Burke also taught trial advocacy and military justice at the Air Force's Judge Advocate General School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
Burke graduated from the University of Maryland in 1988, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business and Management. She earned her Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University in 1992. A member of the State Bar of Texas, she is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. She also served on the editorial staff of the Air Force Law Review.
Burke lives in San Antonio, Texas.