About Michele L.
Michele L. Burton began her legal path in the classroom and carried it straight into the courtroom. She earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia in 2003, followed by an M.A. from Old Dominion University in 2007 where she studied humanities with a focus on race and law. Burton completed her legal training at the College of William and Mary, receiving her J.D. in 2012.
Her public-service career has been steady and local. Burton moved into prosecutorial work soon after law school and by 2015 she was a Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Portsmouth. That role required handling a range of criminal matters and participating in courtroom proceedings at multiple stages. In 2021 she took a position as Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney in Loudoun County, overseeing aspects of prosecution in a rapidly growing jurisdiction and working with investigators, victims, and fellow prosecutors.
Burton’s time in county prosecutor offices gave her sustained trial exposure. She handled filings, pretrial litigation and courtroom advocacy. Colleagues describe her as methodical in preparing cases and persistent in voir dire and motions practice. Her work in Loudoun County added administrative and supervisory responsibilities to her docket duties.
In 2024 Burton left government service to co-found a private practice. She joined partners to form Clark Nelson & Burton, PLLC. The move brought her prosecutorial background into a new setting where she now applies courtroom experience to client representation. The firm opened with a small team and a practice built around litigation and trial work.
Outside of casework Burton maintains involvement in the bar. She holds membership in the American Bar Association and joined the Loudoun County Bar Association when she moved into the county prosecutor’s office in 2021. She also became a member of the Old Dominion Bar Association in 2024. These affiliations reflect ongoing ties to professional networks and to continuing legal education.
Burton is licensed to practice in Virginia and has spent her career in that jurisdiction. Her trajectory from undergraduate study to graduate work, then to law school and a decade of public prosecution, shaped the way she approaches cases. She currently practices at Clark Nelson & Burton, PLLC, where her work focuses on criminal law and courtroom advocacy.
