Paula Burke focuses her practice on assisting colleges, universities, health care institutions, and other organizations in navigating complex governance, risk, compliance, and internal investigation matters. Drawing on a unique combination of labor and employment law experience and higher education consulting, she advises institutional clients on regulatory compliance, governance structures, risk assessments, legal operations, internal investigations, and accreditation issues.
Before joining Cozen O’Connor, Paula served as a consulting manager within the education and research practice of a global professional services firm, where she worked closely with chief legal officers, general counsel, and executive leadership teams at public and private institutions nationwide. She conducted confidential investigations, operational assessments, compliance risk assessments, conflicts-of-interest reviews, and governance benchmarking projects, helping clients strengthen legal operations, compliance, and institutional risk frameworks. She also advised on regulatory and accreditation matters related to higher education mergers and acquisitions.
Paula’s higher education experience includes work for a broad range of nationally recognized institutions and organizations, including Fordham University, The George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan Medicine, Southern New Hampshire University, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, The University of Chicago, The University of Maryland, and component institutions within The University of Texas System.
Prior to her consulting career, Paula practiced labor and employment law at Chicago-area law firms. She represented employers in matters involving federal and state employment statutes, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. She also counseled clients on workplace policies, employee and labor relations, collective bargaining matters, workplace investigations, disability accessibility issues, and compliance matters before agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Paula earned her J.D. from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where she served on the Board of Editors for the Indiana Law Journal. She also holds an M.S. in higher education administration and policy from Northwestern University and a B.A., magna cum laude, in philosophy and political science from Loyola University Chicago. An active community leader, Paula serves as co-chair of Project Law Track for the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, a program that introduces girls to the legal profession through courtroom advocacy and leadership development opportunities.