How One Man Became the Hamptons' Go-To Defense Attorney

Can one high-profile legal case catapult an attorney to a much higher echelon of their chosen profession? That’s one impression you’re likely to get after reading an investigative report at Air Mail by Carrie Monahan and Amanda M. Fairbanks. At the center of their reporting is Edward Burke Jr, a Hamptons-based attorney who was in the news recently for his work defending Justin Timberlake following Timberlake’s DWI arrest earlier this year.

Monahan and Fairbanks write that Burke “has developed a reputation for turning a misdemeanor into a mere slap on the wrist.” He also has decades of experience as a lawyer, having worked as a prosecutor before going into private practice. As for the case that helped establish his reputation, well, that involves turning back the clock to the early years of the current century.

Readers may recall that in 2001, a publicist named Lizzy Grubman was arrested after backing her car into a crowd of people outside a Hamptons nightclub. As Monahan and Fairbanks explain at Air Mail, Burke took Grubman’s case, which helped to put him into the spotlight; in the years since then, he’s represented the likes of Todd English and Jason Kidd.

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In a 2002 New York Times profile, Burke explained his philosophy and the role word of mouth has played in his practice. “Someone hires me to help buy a new house. Their friend needs to get a son out of jail,” he told the Times. “I’ve become the man they call at 2 in the morning.” Apparently in the right communities, word of mouth can work wonders for establishing one’s business.