About John T Burns
John T Burns Jr grew up interested in politics and history, a curiosity that led him to Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he earned a B.A. in political science and history in 1989. He went on to law school at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and received his J.D. in 1992. Early in his legal education he took a position as a law clerk at the Indiana Supreme Court in 1990, an experience that exposed him to appellate practice and judicial decision-making.
He began private practice in Minnesota the year he graduated law school. In 1992 he worked as an associate at McMenomy, Hanson & McCann. By 1994 he had joined a larger partnership, serving as a partner at Knutson, Stier, Earley, Knutson, Sheridan & Burns, and that same year established Burns Law Office as the firm's owner. Two years later he formed a partnership as Sheridan & Burns in 1996. Those moves reflect a fast transition from associate to partner and firm owner over a short span of years.
Over three decades he has remained active in local and state bar organizations. He has been a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association and the American Bar Association since 1992. He joined the First Judicial District Bar Association the same year and later served as its president from 2000 to 2002. His role on the First Judicial District Ethics Committee began in 1993 and continues to the present. At the county level he has served on the Dakota County Bar Association board of directors since 2004 and was president of that association from 2004 to 2006.
Colleagues describe him as a steady presence in regional legal circles. He has combined courtroom practice, firm management and civic bar work in a career that mixes private practice and professional service. He has handled matters that required both trial preparation and client counseling, and his steady involvement in ethics and bar governance has shaped how he approaches professional responsibility.
Outside the office he has maintained ties to Minnesota’s legal community through committee work and local bar leadership. Those roles have kept him engaged with changes in court rules, continuing legal education and the administration of local bar programs. He continues to participate in the First Judicial District and Dakota County bar activities while managing his practice.
He currently practices in Minnesota through Burns Law Office and concentrates on serving clients in Dakota County and the First Judicial District in Minnesota.
