By Scott Smith, Los Angeles Business Journal – February 8, 1999
A Breed Apart: L.A.’s Trial Attorneys
Louis ‘Skip’ Miller
CHRISTENSEN, MILLER, FINK, JACOBS, GLASER, WEIL & SHAPIRO
SPECIALTY: GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS LITIGATION
LAW SCHOOL: UCLA, 1972
WHEN the City and County of Los Angeles run into legal trouble – and that seems to be happening a lot lately – they head straight to Skip Miller.
He defended the Los Angeles Police Department when Rodney King sued on charges of police brutality. The jury ended up awarding King $3 million rather than the $25 million he was seeking. He also successfully represented City Councilman Nate Holden on charges of sexual harassment.
Besides L.A., his municipal clients range include Beverly Hills (he successfully defended the mayor, the City Council and Police Chief Marvin Iannone in a nationally publicized racial discrimination case) and Pasadena (he represented the city and Rose Bowl in a sexual discrimination suit).
Miller’s Century City firm, which started 11 years ago with 14 and now has over 100 attorneys (including Robert Shapiro of OJ Simpson fame), has no trouble attracting high-profile clients. As co-head of the litigation department, Miller has represented both artists and executives in the suit happy entertainment field, including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Sony Entertainment, Columbia and TriStar Pictures, Nick Nolte, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, and Paula Abdul.
After graduating from law school, Miller went to work at Wyman Bautzer in Beverly Hills before setting out on his own with some colleagues in 1988.
Most recently, Miller won a settlement for the LAPD’s anti-drug D.A.R.E. program against journalist Steven Glass, whose articles in Rolling Stone and The New Republic included fabricated quotes.
Miller’s biggest current case is representing Patron Tequila, which is trying to terminate an agreement with Seagram Co., a case with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. “Everyone in the liquor industry is watching this one,” Miller said.
Reprinted with permission of the Los Angeles Business Journal. ™