Kaufman Dolowich Names Dove A. E. Burns Regional Managing Partner of California Offices, Burns to oversee offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Torrance driving unified regional vision, 11-17-2025
LOS ANGELES (November 17, 2025) – Kaufman Dolowich, a leading national law firm, today announced that Dove A. E. Burns, Managing Partner of the firm’s New Haven, Conn. office, will expand her leadership role to include serving as the Regional Managing Partner of the firm’s three California offices: San Francisco, Los Angeles and Torrance.
“Dove has time and again demonstrated exceptional leadership, strategic vision and a deep commitment to client service throughout her career. Her track record of success makes her the ideal choice to lead our California offices into the next phase of growth,” said Michael Kaufman, Co-Managing partner of Kaufman Dolowich.
Burns will work closely with Torrance Managing Partner Joel Benavides and San Francisco Managing Partner Tad Devlin to drive a unified vision across the region, playing a pivotal role in helping to align the firm’s efforts on the West Coast. She will focus on strengthening key client relationships, streamlining workflows, and enhancing operational efficiency. Equally important, she will spearhead growth initiatives, including the recruitment of top-tier talent and the expansion of the firm’s presence in California.
“Her appointment as Regional Managing Partner reflects not only her exceptional leadership but also her deep connection to the Employment Practices Liability Insurance and women’s legal communities,” said Ivan Dolowich, Co-Managing Partner of Kaufman Dolowich. “For more than a decade, she has helped shape the conversation in these fields—founding and co-chairing the Women in Insurance Leadership ExecuSummit and co-chairing the EPLI ExecuSummit for 14 years.”
A labor and employment and commercial litigation attorney, Burns’ defends clients in a variety of areas including class actions, complex wage and hour matters, discrimination and harassment claims, trade secrets, crypto/blockchain, sexual misconduct, fiduciary claims, and restrictive covenant disputes. She is an accomplished trial attorney with experience defending corporate clients from Fortune 500 companies to individual executives, and routinely represents professional service providers, multibillion-dollar international restaurant chains, hospitals, municipalities, housing authorities, nonprofits, higher education institutions, and boards of directors in a variety of high-exposure matters.
Burns also defends clients against alleged violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), False Claims Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and frequently represents employers before various state and federal agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), New York State Division of Human Rights, Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health. She also handles claims under Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) and Directors and Officers (D&O) and Errors and Omissions (E&O) policies.
“It’s exciting to expand my leadership role and achieve greater growth for our California offices. I have enjoyed engaging with our West Coast leaders and attorneys over the past several months and look forward to further strengthening those connections and gaining even deeper insight into the region and how we can drive growth in an increasingly competitive market,” said Burns. “I have enjoyed leading the operations of our Connecticut office, and look forward to continuing my work there and dividing my time between our coasts.”
Burns is provisionally licensed to practice law in California, recently passed the bar and will be sworn in on Wednesday, November 19th. She earned her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law, and her B.A. from Northwestern University.
About the Firm
Kaufman Dolowich LLP is a leading national law firm serving a broad range of industries in practice areas including labor and employment, directors and officers liability, professional liability, commercial litigation, insurance coverage and litigation, data privacy and cybersecurity, consumer financial services, real estate, general liability and construction law. Headquartered on Long Island, N.Y., Kaufman Dolowich attorneys represent national and global clients of all sizes nationwide. Kaufman Dolowich is a seven-time Mansfield Certified law firm recognized for its inclusive employment strategies. For more information, visit kaufmandolowich.com and follow the firm on LinkedIn.
