Burke was born in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. He received his B.S. in Business Administration at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina. At Carolina he was a Burlington Industries Scholar, a Distinguished University Scholar, and also on the Dean’s List. Burke received his law degree from Rutgers University.

He began his law practice in Atlanta with a mid-sized firm. He was In House Counsel for Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. and Glenayre Electronics, Inc. Before joining Thompson, Meier & King, P.C. he was a founding partner of a boutique firm in Atlanta where he practiced business law for many years. He is currently providing general council for a local technology company.

Burke has been active in the American Arbitration Association where he served as an arbitrator for the U.S. Olympic Committee in the 1996 Summer and 1998 Winter Olympic Games. He has been published in the Georgia Bar Journal and various trade magazines. He has lectured at the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center and while there was the recipient of the University of Georgia Business Outreach Award. Burke specializes in a general business practice including transactions, entity formation, contract negotiations, and corporate acquisitions.