Helped Quell Cuban Riots : Burns Widely Respected for Work at Justice Dept.

Arnold I. Burns was a well-to-do New York lawyer with no government experience when Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III persuaded him nearly two years ago to leave his thriving practice to help manage the sprawling Justice Department.

Meese’s selection of Burns, a Republican who had never been identified with any ideological crusades, disappointed some of the attorney general’s conservative supporters. But other department officials said that Burns soon won widespread respect for his competent, no-nonsense approach to department problems.

The thorny issues he is credited with resolving as the department’s No. 2 man include the quelling of the prison rioting by Cuban inmates in Georgia and Louisiana last year.

Visited Site of Riots

Burns, after a visit to the Atlanta penitentiary, scene of the most violent protests, designed an orderly process that guaranteed legal rights for the rioters, assuaging their fears of summary deportation to their native Cuba.

In addition, Burns was praised by his peers in the department for cutting a path through the thicket of civil litigation surrounding deposed Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his wife, Imelda.

Burns, 57, an affable, round-faced man who gestures dramatically when he speaks, often has stepped in for Meese when the attorney general has recused himself from handling matters to which he had personal ties, including legal issues involving court-appointed independent counsels and concerns about the conduct of the Teamsters Union.

Since Meese himself has been under investigation by one special counsel, James C. McKay, Burns has taken charge of filing all Justice Department legal challenges to the constitutionality of such counsels, a question that ultimately must be decided by the Supreme Court.

And, after Meese recused himself from considering matters related to the long-pending prosecution of Teamsters President Jackie Presser--a labor leader with whom Meese had dealt cordially as campaign manager for President Reagan’s 1980 campaign--Burns moved in to approve and sign legal orders related to that case.

Burns has also had overall supervision of preparations for a yet-to-be-filed civil lawsuit that could place the Teamsters under federal trusteeship on grounds that the union has long been under the influence of organized crime. His departure, in fact, may well delay the filing of such a suit.

Criticized in Iran Probe

Burns’ work at the department has not been without criticism. The congressional committees investigating the Iran-Contra scandal said in their final report that Burns, as a member of a Justice Department team that initially investigated the affair, had failed to take prompt action to secure documents belonging to two of the principals, former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter and ex-NSC aide Oliver L. North. Still, their criticism was mild.