In addition to being recognized at an awards ceremony on November 15, 2012, Women of Justice honoree, Kimberly Miller, was featured with the other honorees in the November 19, North Carolina Lawyers Weekly 2012 Women of Justice Awards supplement. You can read the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly article below:
Kimberly Miller, Owens & Miller
Rising Star Award
Raleigh
Law school: Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Campbell University
Undergraduate: B.A. in public policy analysis, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Kimberly Miller’s very first trial was a long hard battle against an insurance company that went all the way to the Court of Appeals. She prevailed in the end. For an encore, she started her own law firm. And she is just getting started.
Miller
In your first trial you handled a very tough insurance litigation case and you were able to win a positive verdict for your client. Why do you consider this your most important significant professional achievement?
This was not a large case. But it was still very important to my client who had no health insurance and several thousand dollars worth of outstanding medical bills. The insurance company had denied liability and raised a defense of contributory negligence. I knew this client needed representation. I also believed that she was right and that the insurance company was wrong in denying her claim.
Before I filed the lawsuit and she told me about coming to North Carolina from Nigeria. I told my client and her husband I believed in them and I was willing to take the risk if they were. After we won at trial, my first trial quickly turned into my first appeal. My client had to wait almost a year after obtaining her verdict to finally have the Court of Appeals uphold it. She finally felt the system had worked.
You left a comfortable job as an associate in an established law firm to go out on your own. What have you learned from this experience?
The last year has been amazing and the transition has been surprisingly smooth. This experience has taught me a great deal about believing in myself and having the faith that the path that we choose is the right one. I have been lucky to have a couple of great mentors and friends who have been willing to answer questions, share their experiences with starting their own firms, or just provide support. The legal community has been amazing in its willingness to help a young firm grow.
You are still early in your career, yet have already accomplished a great deal. What does the future hold?
For over four years, I worked as an associate in a midsized personal injury firm. I was fortunate to obtain a great deal of experience handling hundreds of cases and multiple jury trials. However, I always knew that I wanted to build a law firm from the ground up. I hope to grow Owens & Miller into a firm that serves the community, treats people the way that they deserve to be treated, and makes a difference in the lives of ordinary people.
Source: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, http://nclawyersweekly.com/2012/11/21/kimberly-miller-owens-miller/
Originally Published on November 19, 2012 and Electronically Published on November 21, 2012
