Mark E. Burkland represents public bodies at the state and local levels in all relevant areas of legal services including general corporate counseling, environmental matters, zoning, development, personnel and contracts. He has extensive experience in the field of government law. He works with many of the firm’s public sector clients, including the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and numerous municipal and special district clients. He is Village Attorney for the Villages of Lake Zurich and La Grange, and serves as general counsel to the Park District of Oak Park.
In addition, Mr. Burkland represents private sector clients in complex land planning and development projects, from negotiating the terms of such projects through approvals and permitting. He also drafts the zoning and other development ordinances and agreements.
Mr. Burkland’s experience includes the drafting of a broad range of complex contracts and agreements, drafting legislation, appearances at board and commission meetings and hearings, counseling on all issues of government administration, and the defense of clients in state and federal courts. He has negotiated many complex transactions and settlement agreements.
Mr. Burkland’s work has included repeated contact with federal and state agencies, including the United States Department of Justice, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the EEOC, the Illinois Department of Labor, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and other state bodies. He has participated in numerous projects requiring permitting from various agencies, including new projects and existing facilities.
Mr. Burkland is the partner in charge of the Chicago office’s Opening Doors for Children program, a branch of Holland & Knight’s Charitable Foundation. The Chicago office partners with social service agencies and with a CPS elementary school for reading, teaching, and other programs and events.
Mr. Burkland is a frequent writer and lecturer on various legal issues, focusing principally on matters of land use, development, and government.
Mr. Burkland was an articles editor for the Illinois Law Review at the University of Illinois College of Law. Before entering into private practice, he clerked for the Honorable William J. Bauer, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.