{"id":69819,"date":"2020-06-18T14:56:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T18:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=69819"},"modified":"2020-08-10T13:36:33","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T17:36:33","slug":"bu-school-of-law-remembers-clinical-professor-robert-burdick","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2020\/bu-school-of-law-remembers-clinical-professor-robert-burdick\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quiet Legal Giant: BU School of Law Remembers Robert Burdick"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-box has-media-focus-right-top has-text-position-x-left has-light-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1600\" height=\"1100\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Robert Burdick\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-636x437.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-1024x704.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-768x529.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-1536x1056.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-1200x826.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-992x682.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-1500x1032.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-500x344.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-1000x688.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2020\/06\/Robert-Burdick-1455x1000.jpg 1455w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by Josh Andrus for Boston University Photography<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner has-opacity-80\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">BU Law News<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Quiet Legal Giant: Remembering Clinical Professor Robert Burdick\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">As director of the Civil Litigation &amp; Justice Program for more than forty years, Professor Burdick impacted thousands of lives.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">June 18, 2020<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/lauren-eckenroth\/\">Lauren Eckenroth<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph record-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-default\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>Clinical Professor Robert Burdick (\u201972), who directed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/civil-litigation-program\/\">Civil Litigation &amp; Justice Program<\/a> for more than forty years, passed away on June 18, 2020, surrounded by his family in his home in Hanover, Mass.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A dedicated teacher, mentor, attorney, and friend, Professor Burdick\u2019s work impacted the lives of thousands of people, from his students and colleagues to the many clients helped by the program over the years. His careful guidance of the clinical programs, long tenure on the JD admissions committee, and support for numerous initiatives for alumni have had an enormous influence on the BU Law community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/david-j-seipp\/\">David Seipp<\/a>, who served with Professor Burdick on the admissions committee, noted his \u201ccompassionate concern for every applicant and his particular advocacy for applicants who had volunteered for public interest and access to justice projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe was a\nhumble, quiet giant among us,\u201d Seipp says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under Professor Burdick\u2019s leadership, the Civil Litigation &amp; Justice Program became a model of clinical legal education. He consolidated its efforts from a series of outposts spread throughout the city to its downtown headquarters in the offices of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gbls.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Greater Boston Legal Services (opens in a new tab)\">Greater Boston Legal Services<\/a>, and grew its practice areas to encompass employment, housing, and disability law, as well as a dedicated clinic to address access-to-justice issues. Through the clinical program, he helped impoverished, mentally ill, and disabled clients avoid eviction, obtain disability benefits, and keep themselves and their children safe from family violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote record-block-bu-pullquote alignwide is-style- has-image-focus-center-middle has-primary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><figure><\/figure><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">Bob always approached his teaching and advocacy with caring, innovation, and thoughtfulness. He was our professor and advisor and mentor as much as he was for the students.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Clinical Associate Professor Connie Browne<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Famous for baking birthday cakes for his colleagues and apple pies at the holidays, Professor Burdick\u2019s generosity and work ethic is well known throughout the community. He was always ready to help students and colleagues with personal issues or to work through roadblocks related to teaching or professional responsibility. \u201cThat\u2019s just who he was. He was the most supportive person,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/constance-a-browne\/\">Connie Browne<\/a>, clinical associate professor in the Civil Litigation &amp; Justice Program. \u201cHis clinical teaching, in the field and in the classroom, was just incredible. Bob always approached his teaching and advocacy with caring, innovation, and thoughtfulness. He was our professor and advisor and mentor as much as he was for the students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a\nstudent at BU Law, Professor Burdick reoriented his coursework so he could\nspend as much time as possible serving the clients of the Legal Aid Program,\nthe predecessor of the Civil Litigation &amp; Justice Program. After working\nfor several years at Greater Boston Legal Services following his graduation, he\njoined the law school as a clinical instructor. He was asked to serve as acting\ndirector in 1977, and to lead the program permanently in 1979. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-aside record-block-editorial-aside alignright has-light-background\">\n<h4 id=\"headline-0\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-headline record-block-editorial-headline\">Dean&#8217;s Advisory Board member Tony Gomes (&#8217;96) has established the Robert G. Burdick Jr. Fund for the Civil Litigation &amp; Justice Program. <br><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-very-dark-gray-color\">He invites alumni and friends to join him in recognition of Professor Burdick&#8217;s legacy. To give at the link below, choose &#8220;other,&#8221; and indicate the Burdick Fund when prompted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"wp-block-button wp-block-bu-button record-block-button has-primary-theme is-style-outline\" href=\"https:\/\/trusted.bu.edu\/s\/1759\/2-bu\/giving\/interior.aspx?sid=1759&amp;gid=2&amp;pgid=420&amp;cid=1057&amp;appealcode=WEBLAW\">support the fund<\/a><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>During his career, Professor Burdick helped improve the rights of the marginalized in several areas of law. He led significant litigation in a number of civil law cases involving anti-discrimination, tenants\u2019 rights, and insurance company claims settlement practices. Exemplary cases include <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/masscases.com\/cases\/sjc\/390\/390mass489.html\" target=\"_blank\">Rogers v. Dept. of Mental Health<\/a><\/em>, in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court established the right of committed mental patients to refuse antipsychotic medication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nancy\nShilepsky (\u201978) worked with Professor Burdick on the <em>Rogers<\/em> case and\nfelt the importance of it. \u201cIt\u2019s something that people are much more careful\nabout now, but at the time the psychiatric establishment was claiming that the\nside effects of some the medications were symptoms of the illness. It\u2019s now\nestablished that in massive doses, those side effects can do permanent damage.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now a\npartner in the employment litigation group at Sherin and Lodgen, Shilepsky\ncredits Professor Burdick with helping her find her path in the law. \u201cWhat I\nlearned from Bob was that there is nothing more important than my obligation to\nprotect and advocate for my client. That really has meant everything to me and\nto who I have become as a lawyer,\u201d she says. \u201cI found a calling through Bob\u2019s\ninspiration. He was an amazing lawyer, an amazing person, and in my life, an\namazing mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Professor\nBurdick\u2019s contributions to the School of Law have been recognized with Dean\u2019s\nAwards for both outstanding service and teaching, and with the <em>Pro Bono<\/em>\n&amp; Public Service Faculty Award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know Bob over the past two years,\u201d Dean <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/angela-onwuachi-willig\/\">Angela Onwuachi-Willig<\/a> says. \u201cHis students, colleagues, and members of the broader legal community have been inspired by his steadfast commitment to representing the most vulnerable people among us, which he demonstrated time and again throughout his forty years leading our Civil Litigation &amp; Justice Program. Few lawyers have had the impact on people\u2019s lives, both through personal representation and through brilliant legal strategy that resulted in key changes in case law. Rarely does someone\u2019s life\u2019s work make such a tremendous positive impact on so many lives. He will be sorely missed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">BU Law is gathering remembrances of Professor Burdick\u2019s impact on the community through the form below. They will be collected and shared with Professor Burdick\u2019s family and may be included in a memorial in a future edition of <em>The Record<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background has-very-light-gray-background-color\">Professor Burdick\u2019s family will be holding a virtual memorial service to celebrate his life on Sunday, August 23, at 11:00 am ET, and they have graciously invited any BU Law students, faculty, staff, or alumni who may wish to attend in honor his memory. Please email <a href=\"mailto:bobburdickmemorial@gmail.com\">bobburdickmemorial@gmail.com<\/a> to request the Zoom link and registration information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a name=\"tribute\"><\/a>\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As director of the Civil Litigation &#038; Justice Program for more than forty years, Professor Burdick impacted thousands of lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11260,"featured_media":69834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"{\"post_id\":68644,\"hed\":\"Celebrating 50 Years with the Civil Litigation Program\",\"dek\":\"Next Article\",\"class\":\"wp-block-editorial-billboard record-block-editorial-billboard is-style-full-photo has-light-overlay has-media\",\"backgroundId\":\"68981\",\"backgroundUrl\":\"\\\/law\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/2019-clinic-970x456.jpg\",\"backgroundType\":\"image\",\"backgroundOpacity\":\"100\"}","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"BU Law News","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[3782,3863],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3746,3749,3786],"record-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/69819"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69819"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/69819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71983,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/69819\/revisions\/71983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69819"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=69819"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=69819"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=69819"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=69819"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=69819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}