About

Robert P. Burns is the William W. Gurley Memorial Professor of Law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He teaches courses in evidence and professional responsibility within the Bartlit Center for Trial Advocacy, as well as courses in civil, criminal, and administrative procedure. He has received multiple teaching awards, including the Robert Childres Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence three times and the Dean's Teaching Award twice, and has been recognized as the Outstanding Professor of a Small Class. Burns is the author of several influential books, including 'A Theory of the Trial,' 'Kafka's Law: The Trial and American Criminal Justice,' and 'The Death of the American Trial,' the latter of which received a Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. His scholarly work also includes numerous articles and book chapters focused on procedure, jurisprudence, evidence, trial advocacy, and legal ethics.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Law and economics
• Law
• Epistemology
• Social psychology
• Philosophy
• Mathematics education

Selected publications

• Cadaveric training model for the endovascular management of type B aortic dissection

  Journal of Vascular Surgery Cases and Innovative Techniques · 2025-07-15

  articleOpen access

  Background: The surgical management of type-B aortic dissection (TBAD) poses considerable technical challenges, necessitating meticulous planning and precise execution. In an effort to enhance the proficiency of trainees in the management of TBAD through thoracic aortic endovascular repair, we have developed a cadaveric TBAD training model. Methods: We conducted a feasibility test using a plastic tube designed to simulate the basic anatomical characteristics of the aorta. To access the interior of the tube, we introduced a 26 Fr and a 5 Fr sheath at each end. Employing a soft glidewire, we fashioned a proximal loop around the proximal segment of a Dacron graft (DG). Subsequently, a distal loop was created at the distal end of the DG using a glidewire. The DG was then carefully maneuvered through the 26 Fr sheath within the simulated "aorta" by traction on the distal end of the proximal loop, which extended outward from the 5 Fr sheath. Finally, visualization of the DG within the "aorta" was achieved using an intravascular ultrasound catheter. This methodology was subsequently replicated in a cadaveric model, as detailed in the following section. Results: The in vitro feasibility test substantiated the viability of the devised concept for TBAD model creation. Encouraged by these findings, we proceeded to establish a cadaveric TBAD model. Access was gained to the left common carotid and right common femoral arteries, facilitating the placement of an undersized DG distal to the left subclavian artery, employing the previously described methodology. Completion angiography verified the successful creation of the TBAD model. In the conclusive phase, a Gore cTAG endograft was deployed distal to the left subclavian artery. Conclusions: The presented model not only demonstrated the feasibility of our conceptual approach for TBAD training model creation but also underscored the potential reproducibility of a cadaveric TBAD model. This innovative educational tool holds promise for effectively instructing vascular trainees in the intricate nuances of surgical management for TBAD.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Realistic Cadaveric Training for Endovascular Interventions in Type-B Aortic Dissection

  Journal of Vascular Surgery · 2025-04-18

  article
  PublisherDOI

• The Enfranchised Jury

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2020-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Methods in educating adults

  Routledge eBooks · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Mathematics education
  PublisherDOI

• Motivation and personality

  Routledge eBooks · 2020 · 180 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Social psychology
  PublisherDOI

• Implications for teaching, training and the organisation

  2020-12-02

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Modernity and the Law: A Late Twentieth Century View

  2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Law

  This Article explores Roberto Unger’s understanding of the specific significance that modernity has for law. It provides an account of the distinctions among customary law, bureaucratic law, the modern liberal rule of law ideal, and the unraveling of the rule of law in postliberal societies. It compares his views with those of other major theorists of modernity and with legal theorists. Finally, it discusses his speculations about then future developments and the relationship between central institutional and philosophical issues.

  Publisher

• Chapter five. The Meanings of the Trial’s Death

  2019-12-31

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Law and the Modern Identity

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2019-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Chapter three. The Fundamental Tensions the Trial Defines

  2019-12-31

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Steven Lubet

  10 shared

• Anthony A. Gaspari

  Thomas Jefferson University

  5 shared

• Thomas F. Geraghty

  4 shared

• James H. Seckinger

  3 shared

• Kenworthey Bilz

  3 shared

• Laura I Appleman

  College of Law

  3 shared

• Ekow N. Yankah

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  2 shared

• Paul H. Robinson

  2 shared

Awards & honors

• Robert Childres Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence (thre…
• Dean's Teaching Award (twice)
• Outstanding Professor of a Small Class
• Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award in the Social and Be…