Michael Burnett, Esq.
Michael has been an attorney for over 30 years and is an expert in sexual abuse claim valuation and insurance coverage. He frequently serves as an abuse claim valuation consultant and expert, insurance coverage counsel, mediator, claim resolution consultant, and expert witness. He brings decades of expertise working with religious and nonprofit entities, sexual abuse survivors, insurers and reinsurers, risk managers, attorneys, mediators and structured finance stakeholders, among others, to achieve holistic resolution of abuse cases. He is also a compensation fund administrator, employing restorative principles in the valuation and resolution of sexual abuse claims.
He is a frequent speaker in the U.S. and abroad, presenting on a variety of topics, including effective risk control and claims handling, valuation of sexual abuse claims, alternative dispute resolution, fair and compassionate resolution of sexual abuse claims, and legal and insurance matters involved in sexual abuse cases. Michael Burnett holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School. He spent a postgraduate year of lay ministry in Arizona, participating in the Holy Cross Associates Program.
Michael is the founder and president of Burnett Risk Control International (BRCI). Through BRCI, Michael works with numerous stakeholders to assess, expertly value and justly resolve abuse cases. BRCI helps implement loss prevention, risk control and claims handling mechanisms to help prevent sexual abuse and to properly handle abuse cases. Michael’s goal is to always achieve expedited, compassionate and cost-effective resolution of abuse cases with the hope of facilitating the greatest measure of healing for abuse survivors and affected communities and institutions.
Michael has personally settled and contributed to the resolution of thousands of sexual abuse cases. He provides legal analysis on causes of action and defenses, and on insurance coverage and sexual abuse claim valuation to achieve data-supported and equitable resolution of claims. Michael has personally met with countless sexual abuse survivors to settle their claims, including as a mediator. His authentic and empathetic engagement has resulted in an almost 100% success rate of achieving appropriate settlements that reflect expert valuation analysis and that convey the contrition and atonement of religious and nonprofit leaders.
For over 20 years, Michael Burnett has been developing the Burnett Index, a proprietary database of sexual abuse claim resolution values and thousands of related data points. Burnett Index is utilized to value sexual abuse cases and exposures for underwriting, claims handling and claim resolution purposes. Burnett Index provides data benchmarks and metrics to assist in professional, data driven and supportable sexual abuse claim valuation. Burnett Index is now available through subscription access to stakeholders who work to resolve abuse claims. Accurate claim valuation and empathetic, compassionate engagement with sexual abuse survivors offer the best hope of attaining just and cost-effective resolution of sexual abuse claims for all parties.
