Susan Burke is a homebody—except when the solo practitioner is on the road handling bombshell plaintiffs cases, often involving the federal government. She's been a top attorney-advocate against sexual assault in the military, and she represented former detainees of Abu Ghraib prison. She also advocated for the victims and families affected by the Blackwater Baghdad shootings. Right now, she's serving as lead counsel for plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation accusing defense contractors of exposing service members to toxic fumes from burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In her spare time, she has appeared on the NBC “Today” show, “PBS NewsHour,” “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “CBS Evening News” and CNN to name a few.

Burke, 55, spends about a third of her time working from her home in Baltimore, where she lives with her husband Jamison Koehler (also a lawyer) and their dog Charlie, a Westie. Their three children are grown and out of the house.

Here's what a typical work-from-home day for Burke looks like. Her comments have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Four Newspapers and Berries I don't get up by an alarm unless I have a court proceeding. I just let myself wake up naturally, typically around 6 a.m. I go downstairs to our kitchen, and I sit and I read four newspapers—The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Baltimore Sun. I never watch news on TV. I get all my news in the print media. I'm very old school. I usually spend an hour reading newspapers. My husband goes down to D.C., and he's usually gone. I drink coffee. I'm not brand loyal, but I do the Keurig. Almost every day I eat oatmeal and berries.

Pajamas and Briefs I go to my computer and I begin the day by responding to email. It usually takes an hour at most. Then I normally do my most taxing intellectual challenge at that point. It's when I'm the freshest. If I'm writing a brief, I turn to that. I might be preparing for a deposition or doing discovery, whatever things I need to do to prepare for litigation. At this point, I have not gotten dressed. I'm wearing something like pajamas or sweats.

Out of the House Midday I workout. I'll either go to a Kundalini yoga class or go for a walk in the woods. It lasts about an hour, plus the time it takes to drive there and back, so it's about an hour and a half. When I go for a walk, there are a couple of different parks in Baltimore that I drive to. They're not far away. I don't miss human interaction on days when I'm working from home. I get plenty of that when I'm traveling. I enjoy having my office days. I don't get enough of them. Usually I'm finished working out around 1:30. That's when I shower and get dressed. When I'm in court, my go-to look is pretty formal and severe. I wear mostly black suits. At home I just wear sweat pants or jeans.

Afternoon Session Usually I'll stop for lunch while I'm out or I'll go around the corner. I try to eat soups and salads, but every now and then I'll eat a lot more. You know how it goes. I have another work session in the afternoon, and I respond to email. I try to block my email time so that I'm not constantly responding to it. I do it once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I also try to put all my calls in the afternoon. I block time. I do not multitask. When I'm writing a brief, I shut down my email and I don't take calls. I really focus. That saves me time. I'm not having [to] switch back and forth among tasks repeatedly. During the time allotted for emails, I try to respond to everything fully and then delete or file away the email.

Quitting Time When I'm traveling for depositions and trials, my days usually begin around 6 and end at 8 or 9. On a typical day at home, I begin to flag at 7-ish. My husband's schedule varies. He does indigent criminal defense. Sometimes he'll be back by noon, and other times he won't be back until 7 or 8. For dinner, we really try to eat light. Sometimes we'll have a piece of fish, sometimes just yogurt. Every once in while we'll go out.

Winding Down I read in the evenings. I tend to like spy novels, and I like reading nonfiction. I may watch something on TV. I like “Madam Secretary.” “Modern Family” is cute. I'll watch something lighthearted. I usually go to bed between 10 and 11.

Tips for Success Tackling the most intellectually challenging tasks at the very start of the day. Also, every evening as I end work, I jot down every task that I will accomplish the next day.