David Rodríguez Burns is a trial attorney at the Gonzalez Law Group, PLLC. David was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1996.

David has extensive litigation experience. For the greater part of his distinguished legal career, David successfully represented numerous individuals, government agencies and municipalities in tort, commercial, employment, and civil rights litigation before the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. He also has federal appellate experience and participated in oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

David also served as a consent decree compliance officer and official liaison between a Court-appointed Federal Monitor, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Health of Puerto Rico, in an action brought under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. While serving in such a capacity, David was recognized for his efforts in obtaining the government’s highest level of compliance with the consent decree in the twenty-two-year history of the case. Additionally, David has a passion for representing individuals in defensive removal proceedings and managed to win asylum cases before the Houston Immigration Court, an accomplishment he is particularly proud of.

In the early part of his legal career, David served as an assistant legislative advisor to former governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Rosselló González.

David obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Boston University. He then went on to earn his J.D. at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, where he made Dean’s List.

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Areas of practice

• Business
• Civil Litigation
• Civil Rights
• Employment
• Labor
• Immigration – Removal Defense

Bar Admissions

• State Bar of Texas, 1996
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 2011
• U.S District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, 1997
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, 2023

Education

• Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1996
• Boston University, B.A. Economics, 1993

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association
• American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”)
• Houston Bar Association
  • Commercial & Consumer Law
  • Labor & Employment
• Houston Trial Lawyers Association

Languages

• English
• Spanish