Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP

A Commitment to Quality

Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP has been a trusted source for legal knowledge, strategy, and solutions in California since 1927.
Promise.

For over ninety years, Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP has served the public agencies and private business entities of California.

Today, with over one hundred attorneys and ten offices throughout California, we are fully prepared to meet your legal needs. Our clients value not only our expertise and efficiency, but also our integrity and responsiveness. In each of our eight primary practice groups, our only focus is to serve our clients so that they may receive the very best possible result: Commitment.
Earning Trust

The most important factor of all when you choose your legal representation is trust.
Values.

For over ninety years, Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP has served the public agencies and private business entities of California.

In all our work, and in all our areas of legal expertise, our growth and strength have derived from a commitment to serve our clients while following sound business practices in an environment that celebrates diversity and fosters professional development. Our reputation, however, is based on more than just our flexible, task-oriented approach to providing high-quality legal services rooted in our attorneys' expertise, skills, and performance. Our clients also value us for our honesty, reliability, accessibility, efficiency, and prompt responsiveness, all qualities that form a foundation for the most important factor of all when you choose legal representation: Trust.
A Culture of Inclusion.

Reflecting the diversity of our community and our clients.
Diversity.

Burke's Women's Affinity Group launched in late 2016 and continues as a vibrant presence in the firm, offering mentoring and opportunities for empowerment, enrichment, and growth pertaining to women's careers. The Women's Affinity Group is a leadership initiative that promotes the recruitment, retention and advancement of women attorneys at the firm and aims to develop them into leaders within their practice groups, the firm, the legal profession and the community. In addition to networking events, informational MCLE luncheons and informal discussions, the Women's Affinity Group has also sponsored multiple events that promote leadership and diversity in the workplace including the upcoming Women in Law & Leadership Summit: Silicon Valley that explores the career obstacles, risks and rewards on the path to a fulfilling and productive career for women lawyers. Burke is proud to share its track record on diversity:

2019: Burke has 24 equity partners, 8 of whom are women (33% vs. 20% in 2018 National Association of Women Lawyers study/survey).
2019: Burke is 44% women/minority owned.
Two of the four highest compensated equity partners are women.
In Year 2019, the firm has 54 full-time non-equity partners, 23 of whom are women (42% vs. 30% in study).
In the previous 4 years, 5 of the 8 attorneys who were elevated to equity partner were women (63%).
In the previous 7 years, 6 of the 14 attorneys who were elevated to equity partner were women (43%).
In Year 2019, the five-person management committee has two women and two minority members.
In Year 2019, the four-person personnel committee has two women members and is chaired by a minority.
Collectively, women and minority attorney and staff personnel make up 69% of the firm's population.

Our efforts at maintaining our well-earned reputation as a law firm that practices what it preaches include:

Participation in and sponsorship of the National Association of Women Lawyers
Participation in the California Women Lawyers Association
Participation in and sponsorship of the Commercial Real Estate Women, San Francisco
Orange County Hispanic Bar Association
National Hispanic Bar Association
Asian Pacific American Bar Association

A legacy of Service

A family business, innovating and leading the way since 1927.
History.

Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP originated as a law firm in 1927, founded by two brothers, Louis H. Burke and Martin J. Burke, and Thomas P. White.

From its inception, the firm specialized in corporate law and business litigation. In 1938, the firm also embarked on what was at the time a unique specialty--the representation of public entities. Always striving for excellence in its attorneys, two of the firm's founding partners, Louis H. Burke and Thomas P. White, went on to serve as California Supreme Court Justices. Throughout its growth over the years, and into the new millennium, Burke has retained its roots in real estate and business law and litigation, and as one of the preeminent firms in the fields of public law, education law, and labor and employment law.

Practice Areas	No. of Attorneys
Corporate	1
Education	4
Environmental and Land Use	1
Government and Government Relations	26
IP	3
Labor & Employment	15
Litigation	54
Real Estate	12