Billy Michael Burrage (born June 9, 1950), known as Michael Burrage, is an attorney and former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of all three districts of the

United States district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

s for Oklahoma: the Eastern, Western and Northern. He was appointed and confirmed in 1994 under President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. In 1996, he became Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and served all three courts until his retirement in 2001. At that time, he returned to private practice, during which he also represented the Choctaw Nation as its general counsel and ambassador to the U.S. government.

Education and career

Burrage was born into a Choctaw family in Durant,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and became an enrolled member of the tribe. After attending local schools, he went to college at

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern, SE, or SOSU) is a public university in Durant, Oklahoma. It had an undergraduate enrollment of 4,824 in 2019. History On March 6, 1909, the Second Oklahoma State Legislature approved an a ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1971. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

University of Oklahoma College of Law The University of Oklahoma College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of Oklahoma. It is located on the University's campus in Norman, Oklahoma. The College of Law was founded in 1909 by a resolution of the OU Boar ...

in 1974. He is known as Michael Burrage in his professional life. He went into private practice at the Stamper and Burrage law firm in

Antlers Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...

, Oklahoma that year, working with them for two decades until 1994. That year he was appointed as a federal district judge for the district courts of Oklahoma. After retiring as federal judge in 2001, he returned to private practice.

Federal judicial service

Burrage served as a United States district judge for all three of the

s in Oklahoma—

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, and

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

. He was nominated by President

on March 9, 1994, to the seat vacated by H. Dale Cook. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 8, 1994, and received his commission on June 9, 1994. In 1996 Burrage became the Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Oklahoma, serving until his resignation from the court in 2001. He continued to serve the other two district courts as well.

Post judicial career

Between 1999 and 2002, Burrage, his brothers Steve and David, and Steve's wife Roberta, became the sole owners of FirstBank of Oklahoma. In 2001, Burrage resigned his judicial duties in all three Oklahoma districts, and returned to private law practice. He started Burrage Law Firm PLLC with his younger son David and daughter-in-law Heather (née Hillburn) Burrage. In 2008, Burrage became a Managing Partner in a second law firm, which was refounded as the Whitten Burrage Law Firm. His practice included representing the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma as general counsel, with his job taking on the makings of an ambassador.

Family

Burrage's brother Steve is a former

Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector The Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector is an elected Constitutional officer for the U.S. State of Oklahoma. The State Auditor and Inspector is responsible for auditing and prescribing bookkeeping standards of all government agencies and count ...

. Burrage's older son

Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

served as a member of the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Southeastern Oklahoma State University Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern, SE, or SOSU) is a public university in Durant, Oklahoma. It had an undergraduate enrollment of 4,824 in 2019. History On March 6, 1909, the Second Oklahoma State Legislature approved an a ...

in Durant, Oklahoma from 2014 to 2018.

Notes

References