General Practitioner: Jessica D. Burns

Lawyer/Owner, Law Office of Jessica Burns

Springfield

As a kid, Jessica Burns set her sights on a career as a parole or probation officer. Her parents worked in law enforcement, and she intended to follow in their footsteps. She even majored in criminal justice at Drew University, but it took just one class and one professor to change her focus to law.

“I never intended to become an attorney until I took constitutional law,” she says. “My professor convinced me to sit for the LSAT, and I did well.”

She enrolled in the Tulsa University College of Law, thinking she would become a prosecutor, but once again, life had other plans. 

During law school, Burns drove home to Springfield on weekends where she spent Fridays working for a family lawyer and discovered her passion for it.

“I know people who wonder how I could possibly work in family law,” she says. “But I fell in love with it and it became my niche.”

Burns launched a solo practice right after law school and loves the flexibility, sense of control and the self-reliance that comes with owning a law firm. 

“I have built and sustained this practice my way, and I’ve cultivated a good reputation with the courts, my colleagues and with the community,” she says. “If I hired attorneys and staff, I would have a hard time avoiding micromanaging everything, so I work better as a sole proprietor.”

Along with running a solo family law practice comes the inevitable pressure. Burns says managing stress is a work in progress. 

“Certain cases are incredibly stressful, and they may last for a year or longer,” she says. “And some of the most difficult ones always stand out in my mind. 

She finds glimmers of light when she is able to balance her life and her work. 

“In our modern world, with its laptops, emails and text messaging it’s hard to be out of touch and I have to remember that life is not all about work,” she says. “I’ve learned that at night and on weekends, I just have to decide to stop, otherwise I could work every waking hour.”