David Miller

But ever since law school, he had wanted to be a civil-rights lawyer, and in 1983 he got an offer he couldn’t refuse: a job as the  Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Colorado affiliate in Denver. He took the job, and stayed with it for the next 13 years, achieving a number of well publicized victories.

One of them, Romer v. Evans, was a landmark case that established that a state constitutional amendment to prohibit any governmental body from recognizing gays or bisexuals as a protected class violated their rights to participate equally in the political process. In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ruling.

Following his stint at the ACLU, Miller launched his own firm, which focused on plaintiffs’ civil-rights cases, and he continued there for five years until he joined Qwest Communications International as Director of Employment Litigation, nationwide. During his Qwest tenure, he was asked to serve as the Interim Director of the Colorado Civil Rights Division in state government, a job he relished.

“It’s been a fascinating evolution and career course,” Miller says, looking back over his practice. “Working as a general litigator; a civil-rights ACLU nonprofit lawyer; a private civil-rights plaintiffs’ lawyer; a defense employment lawyer; a government lawyer and agency director; and now specializing in employment and wage and hour law.”

During his more than four decades of practice, Miller has worked on cases touching on all aspects of employment law, including wage theft, overtime issues, wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination, and many more.

Throughout his career, Miller has maintained a consistent dedication to legal justice and continues to focus his efforts on that cause on his own time. He is on the Governing Board of the Colorado Legal Aid Foundation and on the Board of Directors of the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association. He remains committed to the ACLU, does volunteer work for the organization, and serves on its Legal Panel. He also serves as general counsel to the Grand County Library Foundation, and as pro bono general counsel for Teaching Humane Existence, an organization devoted to public safety and the appropriate treatment and monitoring of sex-offenders in our communities.

He and his wife are active in the Rocky Mountain Nature Conservancy and enjoy outdoors activities including snowshoeing, fly fishing, and hiking.

If you think your employer or former employer has violated your rights,  please contact The Sawaya Law Firm for help.