Kelly Burris, founder and owner of Burris Law, is featured in the January/February 2026 Business Aviation Insider publication produced by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). In a “Member Profile” feature – “Patently Original Attorney Pilots Her Own Business Aircraft Nationwide and Overseas” – the article highlights how Kelly’s passion for aviation and her background as an aerospace engineer uniquely shape the way she practices patent law.
As a seasoned pilot and IP attorney, Kelly flies her Daher TBM 940 to client sites, allowing Burris Law to “go and see” inventions. This hands-on approach strengthens patent strategies, enables face-to-face collaboration with engineers, inventors, and legal teams, and deepens client relationships with leading aerospace and semiconductor companies, as well as mid-sized manufacturers located across the U.S. and Europe.
“I want the clients to view me as their local counsel,” Burris said to NBAA’s Business Aviation Insider. “When a client has an innovation, you have to go and see the product to understand the technology. I can say, ‘I’ll be there tomorrow morning,’ as if I’m right down the street. The TBM is my secret business weapon.”
Business Aviation Insider traces Kelly’s journey from learning to fly at Western Michigan University to founding Burris Law in Detroit in 2016. Since, Kelly has grown the firm into a globally recognized IP practice serving nearly 600 clients, while logging more than 3,500 flight hours and flying her TBM an average of 200 hours each year to support firm business. Since its founding, Burris Law has filed thousands of patent applications worldwide and has obtained more than 2,000 patents for their clients in the United States alone.
“In order for me to understand what this invention does and write a strong patent, I have to see the equipment, talk to the engineers, ask questions. We have to write on the whiteboard,” she said. “The client knows we care about what they’re designing, and we’re building a lasting relationship.”
The unique, client service approach even extends to the Burris law logo – a paper plane – and the firm’s website, which loads with a video of Kelly flying to visit a client’s testing lab.
“Airplanes are a part of me, and I want our brand to reflect that. I want people to Google me; the first thing they see on the website is an airplane, and they know, she’ll come see us.”
Read the NBAA’s full member profile on Kelly at:
https://nbaa.org/news/business-aviation-insider/2026-01/patently-original-attorney-pilots-her-own-business-aircraft-nationwide-and-overseas/