Professor Michael J. Burstein will become the Vice Dean of Cardozo School of Law effective August 1, 2018, succeeding Professor Myriam Gilles, who is stepping down after serving with distinction as Vice Dean for two years. Professor Burstein is a distinguished member of the Cardozo faculty where he helps lead its nationally ranked Intellectual Property and Information Law program. He writes about intellectual property, innovation policy, and law and entrepreneurship, and teaches courses in patent law, corporate law and property.
“I am so happy that Michael will be stepping into this role,” said Dean Melanie Leslie. “He is an outstanding member of our faculty and has terrific management skills that will help the law school continue to grow.”
Burstein recently returned to the Cardozo faculty after spending two years at McKinsey & Company, the global management consultancy, where he led the firm’s research in the tech startup sector. Professor Burstein’s academic work focuses the law, business and policy of entrepreneurial innovation. His recent writings include articles about open innovation, patent markets, innovation prizes and non-IP strategies for information exchange.
“I am thrilled to return to Cardozo, and honored to serve as the Vice Dean. Cardozo is a vibrant, dynamic and innovative community of students, teachers, scholars and advocates,” Burstein said. “Under Dean Leslie’s leadership, Cardozo has distinguished itself as a creative center of legal education, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with her.”
Prior to joining the Cardozo faculty, Burstein was a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. He was previously an appellate litigator in private practice in Washington, D.C., a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, and a law clerk for Judge A. Raymond Randolph of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Professor Burstein holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from the New York University School of Law and a B.A. in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and Ethics, Politics & Economics from Yale University.
Professor Myriam Gilles served as Vice Dean of Cardozo School of Law since August 29, 2016. She will continue on at Cardozo as a professor teaching civil procedure, products liability, torts and contract drafting.
Professor Gilles helped oversee a period of growth at the law school, bringing new energy to existing programs and helping Dean Leslie revitalize many of the law school’s areas of operation to support students and faculty. “I am deeply grateful for Myriam’s service to the Cardozo community,” said Dean Leslie. “Her contributions have been invaluable. In addition to her brilliance and tenacity as a problem-solver we have benefited from her terrific sense of humor and her deep concern for the members of our community.”
