Paul Burakoff

Adjunct Professor
Law College Building
648 N. Shaw Lane Rm 368
East Lansing, MI 48824-1300
pburakoff@hotmail.com

  • Biography

    Paul Burakoff worked for over 18 years in the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney in Detroit, specializing in the prosecution of financial and healthcare fraud criminal cases. During that period he spent almost a year in Albania training prosecutors as part of an international program administered by the U.S. Departments of State and Justice.

    Prior to his federal service, he served as a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego, California, where he also taught law classes at both the law school and undergraduate level. Prior to that he worked as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and civil trial attorney in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

    He has lectured classes at the University of Michigan's School of Law on the topic of prosecutorial ethics, and its School of Business on the criminal ramifications of certain business conduct.

  • Courses

    Evidence
    (Formerly DCL 220) A study of the means and methods of proof or disproof of a proposition as either permitted, required or prohibited under the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence. The rules respecting problems of remoteness and prejudice of evidence, circumstantial proof, the employment of writings, their authentication and proof of their contents. A study in depth of hearsay evidence and its status in the evidence. A thorough inquiry into the so-called "evidential preferences" of our legal system and the deficiencies of hearsay evidence as related to these preferences.

    Trial Practice Institute-Trial II
    (Formerly DCL 542 and DCL 565, Formerly Trial Practice Institute-Trial IIA and Trial Practice Institute-Trial IIB ) Must be in the Trial Practice Institute program. This course caps the trial training program at Michigan State University-DCL College of Law. The purpose of the course is to provide graduating seniors with the opportunity to use the skills and education they have received to handle a complete criminal case, from their initial interview with the client (or making the charging decision based upon a law enforcement investigation and request for warrant). This program is unique in that the defendant, law enforcement witnesses, civilian witnesses, and expert witnesses will be students from the Michigan State University, Department of Theatre. The expert witnesses will be students from the Michigan State University Medical School. The objective for all students involved is to have hands on experience related to their particular college and curriculum at Michigan State University. Law students will have an opportunity to take a criminal case from start to finish, investigating the facts of the case, preparing for all aspects of the case through the development of the theory of the case, interviewing witnesses, conducting the preliminary examination, motion practice and culminating with the trial itself. The goal is to provide an opportunity to put into practice what students have learned over their law school career at MSU College of Law. Must be in the Trial Practice Institute program. Because certain non-TPI courses duplicate the content of this course, students may not also receive academic credit for the following courses: Applied Evidence, Civil Trial Advocacy I, Civil Trial Advocacy II, Client Counseling and Interviewing, Criminal Trial Advocacy I - Pre-Trial, Criminal Trial Advocacy II - Trial II.