1. from
LongBeach
to
Loyola
new dean of the law school.
Perhapsihe flrst time DavidBurchm ILaw 841lui two of his st.ongestskms hwlerb
argumentandeducation ln potentcombinationwasn responseto somebodytrying
to lay him oii.
Atthe time,hewasthe activitiesdirectorat PolyHighSchoolh LoIUBeach.And
hewascaughtinihe turbulenceof Prolosition13,Ca.liforniatlandmarkl9TSinitiativ€
that frozelrolerty taxesand in its wake shiftedpower from local Sovernmentio
Anticipatingfinancia]turmoilasa resultof Proposiiron13,tlte superiniendentor
5:$ p.n. May'17,2000
terr lYlarlko Thomp.on pL.otographyGl.nn Mart.no
ru.e2l:rCO9

2. nhy he chose ro rerurn ro his alma nurcr as a
profcssorandwhyhc roseto a ropleadershipposirjon.
Teachingis a way ol life in ihe Burchamfamjty.
Studentslearn Dhonicsand mulriplicationtabtesat
tsurchm ElementarrSchooland resr r.helrarhteric
prowesson Bxrcham l'ield, both namedfor David
'Daddy Burcham,hisgrmdlatherandthe fomerPoly
High Schoolldncjtal. DavidBurcham'sfarher,Hugh
Dalid, a Presbyterianminisrer,servedasschootboard
the Long Beach Unified SchooiDistdcr senr layoii presidenr. His moiher, Esrher, taught speciat
noticesto I,300 employees.Onc ol thosee]nltoyees cducation His .laxghtef, Sracx just compteredher
sas Burcham. ieaching.redentjatand a stint as a stuilentteacher.
Insieadoi uldailng their rasum6s,tsurchamand (Heandhiswife,Ch.is,alsoharc a son,Dauo.)
his besl frjerd Carl Cohn, then a high school tsurchamstartedhiscdeer in LongBeacn,mounS
counselorjwenl on ihe oflensivc.Theychallergcdrhe quicklyirom.lassroomteacherro activitiesdirectorro
supefrnl.ndent in a laper thar afgucd rhar mass vjce prjncjpal.Bui afrer eightyearsjn cdurauor, re
layoflstl'oulda) alienateteachosjb) ium LongBeach enrolledar LoyolaLawSchoot,convincedhe coul.t{lo
irom a desirable, loiv-corilict dist ci into an grcarergood as .t ta$ler slecializjngin educatioal
mdesirable.hjgh.onfllct districtiand O rc$ r in the lrolicy.
"Da[e, th,oughhe'd
beenan the.facult!/
.lctru decude,
carri.edl)irhltTLlA
no negatire
beggage."
supefnrler.icDts doqniall.
It wasa bold,pcrhapseren rebellioLrs,mole for
Bur.ham, whose lamilX nanLcjs sXnonllrouswrrn
educalionin the porl citl andlvhoscfaihersened on
the districrboard ol educatiorar rtre Umc BLrrthe
papcrhtmed out lo be bothpersuasiveandprescicnt.
The district rescindcd rhe layoff noricesi rhe
supcdntendentelcnhratlylosthisiob.
"David and I wefe young sraffers,co.ky and
.onfideni about xhat we could do r.o rxrn around
urbanschools,"remembeNOohn,sho noivihe Long
Beachsulerintendentwith a relurationasa retorme.
'That x2s our lirst forayjnto oul belicfrhattr€ could
It was also ihe first foral' lnto the poljtics of
cdu.ation.,{nd it fLreleda growingcerulnry tharrne
wayto impacithe educalionalsysteftwasfromwjrhin,
| | kon rr"o,.. rh. r . :€rii.dnr ,l- i,i. 1. In
educaiLonallolicy, like school dcsegregario and
schoollinmce," BurchanLsavs,"werebeingmadeby
laryers andjudgcs,not schooladminisrrarors.'
Theincidentputhinonarath toRhcrelreisrLow.
q'hefelawandeducatjo lom aperfectepoq':deanof
LorolaLawSchool.He takesoverthe posjiionJuly 1.
A FAI!1ILV CALLING
Loyaliy and a srong tradition llay a big pafl n
Burcharnslife. They exllajn why, a.iter seNing a
presliSiousLr.S.SupremeCourtclerkshir,he chosero
rehn to long Beachio raischis family.Theyexpiain
iashc alsomotivarcdby a destreto make his
rarlr oLrisideof Long Beach,yherc he had oeen
tagged YoungDalid Burchan?
"Yes,'he says.Empharjcalh
''l']n vcry proud oi mr family heritage and
Indition, but il was a good thing personalb md
lroiessionallyto bmnchout."
At i,oyola,hc excelled,seNing as chiet afiictcs
e{iiiof of lhe law reliew and gradxatingNo. 1 jn nrs
"
a" H" , r"rn-r , ,pn ldu .-1uu.pradlaF. tr-b
eaming a clerkship on rhe tl.S. Suprcme Coun.
tpj.ally the justices draw their clerks trorn rhe
nations eliie to! 10 law schoots.Onlr iwo Loyola
g.aduateshavceverreceivedthe horor, tsu.chamand
hls collcague,ProfessorAllan]des.
When Burchamt siinr {ith AssociateJusD.e
Byrcn White finishedn 1987,Burchm could have
goneany*lLcre.He movedback to LonEBcach and
joincd Cibson,Dunn& Crrtcher in LosAngelesasan
associate.whefe he l|acticed laborand cmptoymenr
laFr Irr 199I, a teachingposilion ai Loyolaopcned.
Bejnr a Bur.nam.the classroombeckoned.
THI HOI!1E"GROWNCANDIDATE
Conlcnt to teach constiruiionallai{ and ethical
laqTerin8,Burchamnever sel his sightson rhc rop
posl. Then, GeraldMclauehLinannoxncedhe woutd
siep doim om the deans posr in June.ColeagLres
beganlobbyingtsurchamio alply.
''It wasnot somethingthat I luste{lIo. or aspired
lo be from the very beginniru,but somerhingrhat
grewon nie as I thoughtabouiit moreandmore,',he
says."One oi lhc real attfacrionswas rhat t was a
challenge.As co.ny as ii sounds, toxalry ro rhe
institxtionnLotilaiedme aswcll '
OohnsLrspectsthat Burcham'smorc lasrvearinto
the associatedeanlrpost- whicholerseesa $500.000
budgel,facLrltycommillces,studentdisciplineandthe
hirlng and cvaluationoi adjuncrpfolessofs F?s a
decisile factor. Someonewas sfirartenoughro raltr
10 , sra:

3. It'sa natumlnichewe'vejustcrcatedandfilled.
''Anolherdea isintellecrualprope{y,rhich w. re
arerdenc!toiill thernsl youIlisionofiheidealdean," workiru io build. $re have a ilvo-track intelleciual
lIarsrls. In thisrcsp.ct,nutsidc6hacanedqc. propcrty programright noin on onc sidc arc the
''ButDavewasoneof ihose|afe indivldualsq'ho, traditionalpatent trademarkcoursesand issues.On
lhoughhe'd bccnon thc facully for a decade,caded lhc olhcr sidc, wcrc i{orting hard lo dcvclop a
virtuallyno negatii'ebaggage." copyrigli enrertainnentlan specialty"
him lnro rhe associatedeanposirior,'Cohn says."lt
provideda testingground,a lvindosio vie$ unirersity
Beingthe insidecandidaredidn'ttut Burchamon
the tast track ior the dean job, says Proiessof
ChristoDherMay,who headedthe searchcommitiee
ior the neil dean.CommitteemembeNalfeadyt ow
all of thc strengths and wcaknessesof an insidc
candidate.tsr contrast,candidatestrom the ourslde
are like ernpiyvessels.
''Si cepu kiow relalively liltle aboul tl'ent, lhercLi
thelr tasks,Mar says.
CHALLENCES AHEAD
Whalsci{cdup theposilionforBurchaniandFhat
took the search comtnittee by surp se was hls
unflinchingcandorduringthe inleniciv, Mar says.Hc
remembersBurchan telling ihe commirtee. I know
whatyou$'dt to hed, but herehwhereI stand.'
Heres*nere tsur.hanstandson keyissuesiachg
. Incr€rcing tlte endownent: Clearlrwehavealot
of ope|atingbL'dgetdependentupon tuition income.
lb ensufeour healthanrtcourletiriveed8e,I d Likeio
feduce, as mnch as we can, qhat I thirt to be
Burcham had alrcady provcn his abilily lo . ContinuinS the enphmis on ethieal l&rTering:
deleEatereslonsibility and lertornl mundane yet The $ay you do ihat is by putting law studelts in
oitjcat administraiiledLuieswhen he organizedihe situationsoeatedby hr?otheticalfactpatternsard bv
schools sell-strdt proce.isrequlred raecirealrtataon rartp€-rg.lnLr tLri fhamin raeFlil€-ailnaelnire s
by the AinedcanBaf lssocialion Ile knew exacrlr laq e$ encounterfrequently:conflictol interesl.lbur
nhich peoplebestsuiredeachtaskandthen lighrly cljert isnl beingtruthful.Ifyou getlawstudentsnot to
but ilrmly made surc those peolle accomplished reada casestudybut to live it andleel rhe dllemna
tnait hoiva peNon eft1csarc developed.Wehavea
fanlaslic course for secondyear sludenls called
ethicalLa$Tering,whichteachesrulesof lrofessional
rcsponsibililyandethicsirt corLjunclions'ilh practical
skjlls includinghten'ieqing and counselingcllenls.
. needlo domoreofrhal, lo inlensifuthat Imining.'
The law schoolNould be hard prcssedto lind
anyone with greater love or knowledgc of the
1., . i I ald s p6 p ej .or. Prola.sorLa i-
"lts not that h€ s,antedro be dean ot n hiv
school."she savs."He wantedto be deanof Loyola
exccssivcdclcndcncc.Thar'snor goinglo bc casy LESSoNSIN LEADERSHIP u)dnted to be deuTL
One$at is to getmoreendo$edchairsin areaslnere Thellghrto rescindiheLalollnorjcesmorefian 20 af a lalu schooL. He
we hale somethingspecialio offer legal ethi.s, I'earsa8o lelt indeliblelessons.BufclEm and a.hn
i antecl to be dean
iiteXedudlrolertJ rnd xom drllae: la'in.n.fa dr(iiprr^'.a. aAi
^a
q rrFpr.
-trbnt
ii a
. Baising the btrr p$sage rater "Among ABA- schoolslstem.They leamedihe healthor cmlloiFc
t')l I'outtlo, La,u,t,
accre.ljtedschools.ivere rlghr ai rhe lsratelavcraae relationsis.lirectlrticdio thehcalthoftheorgDnizaLron. J(noot
lor lirst ti retakeN.,{ specialconxnitteels looklngai l'or Isri youngmenat the ouiseiof ihei| careers.this
our bar statisticsoveftne tast live yearc,pariicular_ fighttaL€htlhe sisdomofcomlassionaieleadershl!.
"ll's not that he
rr ".d" , k n la'r.r a "l l ir'r 'im". T' OohnstaxcdirLLongBcachUniiicd Burchantlefl,
At LoXolaLawSchool,he'sdoneexactlythat.
,*
top hall oi the classhasa piss |ate ol96 percent.The but he didn'i leavebehindlhosel€ssonsof the family
botlomhaliis whcrethc lroblcns cropup.Evenlhose commihenr ro educalion.Healxrys knewhe'diind a
at risk in rhe botiom hall elentuallypassthe bar.Il wayto meldeducaiionandlaw together.
rhey canlass ir rhe secondor lhid tirne,there o
reasonihey can'tpassit the lirsi time.Whareverslills
or knowledgethey pick up the secondor third iime,
s'e'vegol lo ntakesurewe do a betterjob of offering
. Building m id€ntity: "Ifyou lalk lo gradxalesfronL
vearsago,ihe nichewe'vecaNedhistoncallyis oneof conraciBu,cham:david.bu,cham@ll6..du
excellenllrial la$x'eN}1rocanhit ihegrou d runrdnE
Srad.ngrn " all {F r" oll"nrE1 grdJla" dagrparn
laxation.No oth.r L.A.laF schooloffcrsthis progrm commonts:vi3tas@lmu.edu
un.2rco l1