A graduate of Columbia University and the Columbia University School of Law.
Served as an executive and attorney at United Artists in the 1960s. He then segued to Paramount, where he had a stint as president of its Dot Records division.
In private practice, Burk represented clients including directors Milos Forman, Michael Mann, George Miller and John Rich and Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.