Janet is a member of a CSU Law legacy family that includes her sister, Nona M. Burney, PhD, CSU Law Class of 1981 and 2017 Hall of Fame Inductee. Nona has been her lifelong role model.

Since 2022, Janet has been the General Counsel, Deputy General Manager for Legal Affairs, and Chief Legal, Safety and Ethics Officer for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). She joined GCRTA in 2012 as Senior Counsel for Contracts and Real Estate and later that year became Deputy General Counsel for Administrative, Labor and Transactional Law.

Janet’s “superpower” has been amassing extensive legal experience in various areas, including litigation, labor and employment, contracts and real estate, public sector law and administrative matters. She has criminal and civil jury trial experience in both state and federal courts and has argued before the Ohio 8th District and U.S. Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as before the Ohio Supreme Court. Janet served the City of Cleveland as Chief Assistant Director of Law for the Labor and Employment Litigation Section.

In 1998, Janet became the first African American female elected as a judge to the Juvenile Court bench in Cuyahoga County.

Janet earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Skidmore College.

Her commitment to the community is demonstrated through her history of service on various boards and commissions including the St. Luke’s Foundation, the Fund for Our Economic Future, the Health Trustee Institute, Caritas Health System, the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Bar Associations and Public Defender Commission. She is a life member and honorary trustee of the CSU Law Alumni Association. Janet is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Janet is the recipient of the 2003 “Spirit of Women” award from the National Council of Negro Women, Inc., Cuyahoga County Section. In 2000, she received the Ebony Rose Award for Civic Affairs from the Murtis H. Taylor Multi-Service Center.