Shannon R. Burke

Shannon Burke is Chapman’s Director of Talent Development and Inclusion. She is passionate about supporting others in their professional success and, along with others in Chapman’s Professional Development team, works on all aspects of professional development for attorneys, paralegals, and paraprofessionals, including creation and facilitation of internal professional and business development curriculum; mentoring programs; competency and staffing models; feedback and evaluations; onboarding and integration of first-year associates, lateral attorneys, partners, and paraprofessionals; and attorney CLE and licensing compliance. As an ICF certified coach and MBTI and DiSC facilitator, Shannon partners with Chapman attorneys to help them identify and accomplish goals for their professional development.

Shannon also coordinates the firm’s inclusion efforts. She and others on Chapman’s inclusion team seek to ensure that all attorneys at the firm have the opportunities and resources to help them succeed. She supports the firm’s attorney Business Resource Groups and helps them identify resources, programs, trainings, and speakers that will support their professional and business development. Shannon also coordinates with law school student groups to help aspiring attorneys connect with and receive mentorship from Chapman attorneys.       

Shannon oversees several pipeline programs at the firm that introduce aspiring attorneys to the practice of law. Chapman partners with the Cristo Rey Program, which provides high school students from Chicago an opportunity to work in a law firm environment, learn professional skills, and receive mentorship. For those students who are interested in the business side of the practice of law, Shannon oversees the Law Firm Administrative Internship (LFAI) – a summer internship that provides undergraduate students the opportunity to work in Chapman’s administrative departments. Since its inception at Chapman, Shannon has also overseen the Finance Law Development Program (FLDP), which includes both a summer internship for rising junior undergraduate students as well as a two-year program for recent graduates. Several of the FLDP alumni have graduated from law school and returned to Chapman as associates.   

In addition to her work at Chapman, Shannon is also a leader in the law firm professional development and inclusion industries. She is a member of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) Board; co-leader of the Chicago Professional Development Consortium (PDC) group; frequent presenter at conferences, webinars, and city group meetings; and author of several articles on topics relating to professional development and inclusion. One of the volunteer activities of which Shannon is most proud is her contribution as a faculty member at NALP’s Newer Professionals’ Forum where she provides newer industry members an introduction to professional development and inclusion at law firms.  

Shannon previously worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, the Associate Director of Educational programming for the American Bar Association, and as an attorney at an Illinois law firm.