"Sometimes a trial lawyer has to be cruel," he said to laughter from the crowd. The seminar was organized by The New York State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Committee.
Miller is a senior partner with Clark, Gagliardi & Miller, P.C., in White Plains, NY. He represents plaintiffs in a variety of areas, including product liability, commercial, medical malpractice, automobile, premises, construction, sex abuse, legal malpractice, discrimination, whistleblower, and real estate.
One of Miller's biggest and most notorious victories was a multi-million-dollar verdict for loss of nurture due to the death of a young mother killed by a drunk driver. Miller successfully convinced a jury and a judge on appeal that the woman suffered because she was denied the nurture of her mother.
"She lost all that her mother could have given her in the way of nurture, of guidance, encouragement, protection," he said. "I got a good verdict, and then it was appealed. And I remember telling the appellate judges, 'If I would've lost my mother when I was one, your honors, I would have been a very, very different person.' I said it was worth every penny of it. They let it stand."
"I thought if I was going to make my way in life, it would have to be something in the talking world because that was what I was comfortable doing," he said. "Whether it was as an actor or a trial lawyer or the political life, it had to be something like that. I was not fit to be someone technical or good with their hands, like a surgeon."
Miller has written extensively on trial practice, and his most recent book, On Trial: Lessons from a Lifetime in the Courtroom, is used in his seminars and by trial lawyers across the country.
Miller also wrote and will star in the one-act play, "All Too Human," which will premiere in White Plains on November 15 and run through November 20. While Miller has given numerous lectures on Clarence Darrow and even reenacts some of his famous summations during seminars, the show marks the first time Miller will embody Darrow completely as an actor. Why Clarence Darrow?
Miller worked as an actor while in college; and after serving in the Army during the Korean War, he considered devoting his life to the stage and screen. But he realized that many talented actors were waiting tables and decided law school was a better option.
"There are many parallels," he said. "But there is a danger in both disciplines—in the stage and in the trial. Theatricality is the danger because it's false. And as a trial lawyer, you've got to be real. There can't be anything phony because people see right through you. But it's also true of an actor. Unless the role calls for that and you're playing a ham, then you can be theatrical. But other than that, you better be the character. Is there any doubt when you see On the Waterfront that Marlon [Brando] is a beat-up fighter?"
Miller said the most important part of his decision to become a trial lawyer was finding a job where he couldn't wait to go to work. He feared pursuing a career that would leave him bored and knew the law and especially trying cases would keep him happy and stimulated.
"Remember, it's miserable to get up in the morning if you go to something you don't like to do," he said. "Why spend your life that way? Try to find something where you can't wait to get there, whatever that may be. And then go do it."
Miller has been actively involved in the profession. He is a past regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a past director of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, past president of the State Bar Association and the Westchester County Bar Association. He also has been director of the New York State Trial Lawyers' Association and the Defense Association of New York.
Miller has been with his firm since the 1960s and briefly worked for the wonderfully named firm Lawless & Lynch. While he maintains a full caseload, he finds teaching young lawyers equally rewarding.
"I've tried so many cases over the years that I finally have something to talk about," he said. "There is something very joyous in teaching, to share what you know and to reach others. It's not just the gratitude that you sometimes hear expressed; it's that you genuinely feel good about it. It may not be the largest topic in the world—the trial of a case—but it's at least a topic of some importance, and I'm able to speak on it all day. So that's very pleasant for me."
