Thomas M. Burke Jr

Thomas M. Burke Jr. of Jody D. Peterman, LLC, in Valdosta, Georgia, practices personal injury law. He has turned that insight toward a new purpose: advocating for the injured individuals and families who once stood across from him. He represents clients throughout South Georgia facing the aftermath of serious injury, including medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, automobile collisions and premises liability incidents, using his defense-side background to anticipate strategy and build stronger cases on behalf of the people who need it most. For a quarter century, he stood on the opposite side of the courtroom. 

As a partner at one of Georgia's largest insurance defense firms, Mr. Burke spent his career shielding two prominent South Georgia health systems from medical malpractice claims and defending insurance carriers against automobile and premises liability lawsuits. That extensive tenure gave him an insider's understanding of exactly how hospitals, health networks and insurers construct their defenses – knowledge few plaintiff's attorneys ever have the chance to acquire firsthand.

Today, Mr. Burke has turned that insight toward a new purpose: advocating for the injured individuals and families who once stood across from him. His academic path began at Florida State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1993, before he went on to graduate cum laude from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1998, having also contributed to the school's Law Journal. 

Mr. Burke then honed his early legal skills serving under the Honorable John D. "Dickey" Crosby and the Honorable Gary McCorvey within the Tifton Judicial Circuit before transitioning into insurance defense work. He holds admission to practice before every state and federal court in Georgia.

A lifelong resident of the Tifton-Valdosta region, Mr. Burke remains deeply rooted in the community he serves, representing clients in Tifton, Valdosta and neighboring South Georgia areas.