David Burns - Bio

Mr. Burns was for thirty-five years a practicing attorney.  He was a senior partner and department chairman at Baker & Botts LLP and Dewey Ballantine LLP.  His practice included a broad group of banks, insurance companies, surety companies, oil, gas and energy corporations, cable television, and real estate interests.   These clients ranged from start-ups to NYSE listed corporations and were based in the U.S, Germany, the U.K. and Japan. 

The practice and advice involved with these clients included the creation, the financing and sometimes the reorganization of these entities.  Once asked by a physician what all this really meant, he replied, “It’s credit and the pathology of credit.”

Mr. Burns represented Pennzoil in the Chapter 11 case of Texaco.  This case was at that time that largest Chapter 11 case ever filed and resulted from a $10,000,000,000.00 judgment against Texaco in Pennzoil’s favor.  It was resolved in a year through a joint plan of reorganization authored by Pennzoil and Texaco and providing for the transfer of $3,000,000,000.00 to Pennzoil, an amount then which could not be transferred in one Federal Reserve wire.

In 2006 Mr. Burns brought to Gulf Capital Partners a possible start-up using a light-based science developed by Drs. Rebecca Richards-Kortum of Rice University, Michele Follen of M.D. Anderson, and Calum MacAulay of British Columbia Cancer Agency.  With the efforts of Gulf Capital Partners, the scientists and Boone Pickens, medical and dental instruments for the detection of cancer were developed and put into the market. 

Mr. Burns was graduated with a B.A. in History and Economics from the University of Oklahoma and with a J.D. from Harvard Law School.  He enjoys bringing Sooner enlightenment to his UT colleagues.