• A.B., Harvard University
• J.D., University of Chicago
• LL.M., University of Virginia
   

Dean Burnett brings to legal education the broad professional background of an appellate judge, practicing lawyer, state bar president, law dean, and law teacher.  Born at Pocatello, Idaho, in 1946, he received his baccalaureate degree magna cum laude in economics from Harvard, his J.D. degree from the University of Chicago, and an LL.M. degree from the University of Virginia.  He also graduated on the “Commandant’s List” from the Command & General Staff College of the United States Army.  

Dean Burnett’s scholarly and teaching interests include professional responsibility, criminal procedure, law and economic analysis, judicial decision-making and American Indian Natural Resources.  He is the chairperson of the Professionalism Committee of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and national advisory board member of the American Judicature Society.
 
Dean Burnett’s professional career began with service as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court and as an assistant attorney general for the State of Idaho.  He entered private practice in Pocatello and became president of the Idaho State Bar. He chaired the Bar’s professional conduct standards committee; served by contract as a judge of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Court; and served as executive director of the Idaho Judicial Council, which is responsible for merit-based screening of prospective appointees to judicial office and for investigating complaints of judicial misconduct. In 1982, he was appointed to the Idaho Court of Appeals, and he was retained in office by statewide election (unopposed) in 1986.

In 1990 Dean Burnett accepted the University of Louisville’s appointment as dean of the law school now named for its historic and visionary benefactor: Justice Louis D. Brandeis.  Dean Burnett served twelve years on the Brandeis faculty, including ten years in the deanship.  In addition to his academic work in Louisville, Dean Burnett chaired the Ethics Committee of the Kentucky Bar Association as well as the State Judiciary Policy Council of the Kentucky Center for Public Issues.  He served as convening member of the Kentucky Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy.    He was a member of the board and the executive committee of Health Kentucky, Inc. (a nonprofit organization devoted to improving healthcare for the uninsured people living in poverty).

As a reserve officer in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Dean Burnett’s service included the position of reserve deputy commandant and academic director of The Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia.  He received the U.S. Armed Forces Legion of Merit award at the conclusion of his service in 2001.

In 2002, Dean Burnett accepted the University of Idaho’s invitation to return to his native state.  In addition to administrative duties as dean of the law faculty, he currently teaches the Professional Responsibility course.

Contact Information: University of Idaho College of Law
P.O. Box 442321, Moscow, ID 83844-2321
Direct Dial: 208-885-6305
Fax: 208-885-5709
E-Mail: dburnett@uidaho.edu