Richmond Law magazine interviewed Navy reserve Rear Adm. Andy Burcher, L’97 about balancing his career in the Navy Reserve and his career as an attorney in the civilian world.
Andy joined Walsh Colucci in 2006 as a shareholder and works primarily in the firm’s Litigation and Business Transactions practice groups. Andy’s practice focuses on general commercial law including complex commercial litigation, commercial transactions, creditor bankruptcy representation, and general corporate matters. He has extensive experience in both the federal and state courts in Virginia, including bankruptcy court, for both bench and jury trials.
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Commanding Presence
Andy Burcher, L’97, begins a conversation about his work debunking the common misconception that working for the Navy Reserve is a part-time job. It may be for some, but what Burcher’s been doing for the past two years is very much a full-time responsibility: He’s in charge of submarine operations for NATO.
Burcher has spent his professional life as an attorney in the civilian world, practicing since 2006 at Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh in Prince William, Virginia. But he’s also a 1988 U.S. Naval Academy graduate who has served for most of his career as a Navy reservist, rising over the course of two decades to the rank of rear admiral. For those not familiar with the often-complicated workings of the U.S. armed forces, the term “reservist” might confuse things, implying as it does little more than occasional weekend duties. But wearing an admiral’s two stars, managing many billions of dollars’ worth of strategic military assets, and commanding personnel from dozens of nations requires full-time attention.