About Jason R
Jason R Burks built his legal foundation at the University of Missouri–Columbia, where he completed a B.A. in International Studies and Business Administration with an emphasis on Latin America in 1996 after earlier study at Missouri State University. He went on to earn a J.D. from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s William S. Richardson School of Law in 1999 and was admitted to the Hawaii bar that same year.
He began his early career in the Hawaii legal system. In 2000 he served as a law clerk for the Hawaii State Judiciary under the Honorable Victoria S. Marks. That same year he joined the Office of the Public Defender for the State of Hawaii as a deputy public defender. Those roles gave him front-line exposure to courtroom procedure, motion practice and the pace of criminal litigation in the islands.
Over the years Burks has maintained steady ties to the criminal defense community. He has held membership in the Hawaii State Bar Association since 1999 and joined the Hawaii Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2011. He was also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers from 2011 to 2012. These affiliations reflect a continuing connection to practitioners who handle trial work, appellate matters and public defense issues.
Colleagues describe Burks as a practitioner who knows the mechanics of both trial courts and the public defense system. His resume shows time spent handling indigent defense matters and assisting judges with legal research and opinion drafting during his clerkship. Those experiences inform the way he approaches case preparation and courtroom advocacy, from early investigation through plea negotiations or trial.
Burks’s professional path is straightforward. He moved from judicial clerkship to public defense work and has kept his practice anchored in Hawaii. That continuity has made him familiar with local courts, prosecutors and rules of criminal procedure. He has continued to participate in local bar activities while practicing.
He is currently active on the Hawaii bar and remains engaged with local criminal defense peers. He practices law in Hawaii, where his work centers on criminal defense and matters arising from public defense practice.
