Ed Burbach

Partner

Foley & Lardner LLP

Ed Burbach is a Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP.

As a focused litigation lawyer, Ed Burbach represents corporations, individuals and governmental entities in matters involving local, state and federal governments – with emphasis on the state of Texas. He has special experience as a Medicaid fraud attorney, with deceptive trade practices, FTC, FOIA litigation /Public Information Act litigation and attorney general opinions. Ed also has nearly 30 years of experience litigating significant government, energy, maritime, insurance, financial services, pharmaceutical, health care provider, retailer, corporate, multistate and class action claims.

Appointed by now-Texas Governor Greg Abbott as his original Deputy Attorney General for Litigation, Ed served as Texas’ lead litigator and directly supervised all of Attorney General Abbott’s 11 civil litigation divisions, including 250 attorneys, over 600 employees and a $35 million budget. Ed also served as Texas’ main litigation liaison with the National Association of Attorneys General during Attorney General Abbott’s first and second terms. Ed maintained a heavy litigation docket representing the state and its leadership in high-profile litigation, such as Medicaid fraud, energy, financial services, environmental, Public Information Act, the historic Texas Tobacco Settlement, school finance, congressional redistricting and election law challenges brought by major political candidates. Upon announcing Ed’s return to private practice Governor Abbott advised:

“For more than three years, Ed Burbach has been a trusted advisor whose expert legal skills and careful management have yielded real results for the State of Texas,” said Attorney General Abbott.

“Under Ed’s leadership, our Consumer Protection Division obtained tens of millions of dollars in restitution for Texas consumers, and our Civil Medicaid Fraud Division uncovered more than a hundred million dollars in fraudulent Medicaid overpayments. Ed also guided the State through its most difficult legal disputes, including lawsuits challenging the Texas tobacco settlement and the state’s school funding plan. We all appreciate Ed’s distinguished service to this agency and wish him well on his return to the private sector.”

Ed’s clients often face costly, multiyear, high-stakes claims. For example, in State of Texas v. Petroleum Wholesale, et al., Ed defended claims brought by the state of Texas alleging $200 million in civil penalties for allegedly misrepresenting the amount of fuel delivered at retail gasoline and diesel pumps in Texas. He also served as lead counsel in the defense of the state Multidistrict Litigation Panel proceeding and as lead counsel in defense of various state purported class action litigation.

Ed serves as the Austin Office Chair for Corporate, and he remains active with the attorney’s general offices throughout the United States.