Legal Elite 2024: Criminal Law Q&A Daniel J. Miller

Legal Elite 2024 Q&A is sponsored content.

Title: Owner

Other legal specialties: Family Law (Divorce, Custody, Support etc.) and serious personal injury cases and medical collections 

Education: Bachelor’s degree, Emory University; law degree, Western Michigan Law School

Family: Two children who attend Tulane University and Pace University in New York City

Career mentors: My father, Bernard Miller, was a seasoned trial lawyer with Moody McMurran and Miller, and then Miller Bondurant. He specialized in FELA trial law representing injured railroad employees. He believed that the most important aspect of practicing law was preparation.

Hobbies: Hiking, skiing, tennis, golf, and playing the drums 

First legal job: Worked for Michael I. Ashe PC as an associate attorney for three years before going out on my own

TV show, podcast or book you’ve enjoyed lately and would recommend to others: “In the Kingdom of Ice,” by Hampton Sides

Fan of: “The Sopranos” 

Favorite place you’ve traveled: Zermatt, Switzerland, and Glacier National Park

What do you enjoy most about your legal specialty? Making sure my clients are not defined by their one momentary lapse of reason

What are the most recent challenges you’re seeing in your legal specialty? Attorneys who believe they must be uncivil to zealously represent their clients. Also, there are fewer experienced paralegals in the workforce. As a result, we have hired less experienced employees and trained within.

What made you choose your specialty area of practice? I’m very empathetic and can easily place myself in the shoes of my clients.  

Is there something in your past work or personal life that makes you a better attorney? In between college and law school, I took seven years off to play music. During this time, I worked construction and warehouse jobs to make ends meet. I believe this experience helps me relate to juries, clients, and opposing counsel.

Read all of the 2024 Virginia Legal Elite here.

Legal Elite 2024 Q&A is sponsored content.