Someone you should know: Jan Paul Miller

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Jan Paul Miller worked in private law firms in New York and Boston for partners who had previously worked as Assistant United States Attorneys. Those partners gave the new attorney some valuable advice that he would never forget: being an Assistant United States Attorney is the greatest job you can have. Perhaps it is no surprise that Miller loves his new role as the United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, a post he was appointed to by President George W. Bush on May 10, 2002.

Raised in the D.C. suburb of Rockville, Maryland, Miller knew from an early age that he either wanted to play quarterback for the Washington Redskins (his family has held season tickets since 1964 and he is an avid fan), perform as an actor, or become an attorney. Most of his free time during junior high and high school was spent working with the drama departments. He enjoyed acting so much that following his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina, he transferred to Boston University to study theater. During his second semester at Boston University, Miller took a business law course that cemented his desire to be an attorney. "Acting was fun," Miller explained, but "I felt the need for more traditional academics." He transferred back to North Carolina the same year Michael Jordan led the Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship.

After taking the LSAT, Miller applied to a half-dozen law schools. His Harvard acceptance letter was sent to his parents' house and they called to ask if they should open it. Miller had been quite ill and the medicine was finally kicking, in allowing him to rest for the first time in several days. His parents opened the letter with him on the telephone, and they began screaming with excitement. Miller replied, "Great, I'll talk to you tomorrow," and hung up the phone so he could go back to sleep.

During his second and third years at Harvard, he joined the drama club. According to Miller, "performing and the law fit together very well." Following his second year of law school, Miller clerked for a private law firm in New York that later hired him as a new associate. However, Miller was not finished with drama. While studying for the New York bar exam, a friend from law school rented a theater in Boston and asked Miller to direct one of the plays, an offer he could not refuse. "It kept me sane while I was studying for the bar exam all day," he explained.

Miller also recalled the excitement of being sworn-in as an attorney in New York in 1986, only to sadly learn following the ceremony that the shuttle Challenger had blown up just minutes before.

Miller met his wife a few months after accepting the job in New York. As luck would have it, she had just accepted a job offer in Boston. They decided to get married in May of 1986, and he moved back to Boston. Love proved to be somewhat inconvenient for Miller, however, as Massachusetts did not honor the New York bar and he was forced to take his second bar exam in as many years. "It was a royal pain in the neck," he recalled.

It was during his time in Boston that Miller was first exposed to the work of an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA). His law firm was representing a woman in a white-collar case, and they arranged to obtain discovery. It was during that meeting with the AUSA that he determined the job was something he needed to look into. "The Assistant U.S. Attorney position embodies why I wanted to attend law school in the first place. An opportunity to serve the public, doing the cases that need to be done, everything about it struck the right note for me."

Miller and his wife decided to move to Maryland and he applied to the United States Attorney's office. In order to become a member of the Maryland Bar, he had to take the Multistate Bar Exam for the third time. "I knew the Rule in Shelley's Case like none other," he recalled. Although the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland was under a hiring freeze in 1988, he still interviewed for a position. After the hiring freeze was lifted, he reapplied and was hired on April 3, 1989, a date he says he will never forget. As a new AUSA, Miller specialized in forfeiture cases, working on civil forfeiture cases and any criminal cases that included a forfeiture component. Miller went on to become Chief of the Narcotics Section. In 1995, Miller transferred to the U.S. Attorney's Office's new Southern Division, where he started concentrating on white-collar crime. Subsequently, Miller was appointed to a variety of positions within the Southern Division office, including Senior Litigation Counsel, Appellate Chief, and Deputy Criminal Chief. While in Maryland, Miller investigated and prosecuted cases ranging from bank fraud to public corruption, from tax evasion to narcotics.

Another date Miller remembers very well is January 22, 2002, the day the Attorney General appointed him to serve as the United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois. The process began in the spring of 2001, when Miller learned that Senator Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois was recruiting candidates to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois. "Senator Fitzgerald's office contacted a variety of U.S. Attorney's offices around the country and encouraged qualified candidates to apply for the position," Miller explained. "I decided this was an opportunity I could not pass up."

Because he is not directly involved in politics, Miller embraced the opportunity to be considered for a U.S. Attorney's position in a non-political way. He interviewed with the Senator's Chief of Staff in Washington, but several months passed after the interview without further contact. The Senator's Chief of Staff finally called and asked Miller if he could meet with the Senator in Illinois. At the conclusion of the meeting, Senator Fitzgerald informed Miller that he wanted to recommend him to the President. "It was a very humbling moment, but an incredible honor." President Bush officially appointed him to the position on May 10, 2002.

Miller was impressed by the thoughtfulness the Senator showed him throughout the process. "When he told me he wanted to recommend me to the President, he said, 'I don't want your answer now, I want you to talk with your wife and family and make sure this move is right for your family,'" Miller explained. "That was the nicest thing the Senator could have done for me and my family. I was very impressed by that."

The transition to central Illinois has not been difficult; Miller finds it a wonderful place to live and raise a family. "The community has been very welcoming and there is no traffic, which is a nice change for me and my family." He feels his family has made the transition better than he hoped. "My son, who is 13, has adapted beautifully and my daughter, who is two, is happy wherever she is." Although he does not have much time for hobbies outside of work and family, Miller is an avid gourmet cook who loves Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate "because it is the chocolate Emeril uses on his program." He remains a loyal Redskins fan, although he misses some of the games since not all are broadcast here in Illinois. Miller also has his private pilot's license and hopes to return to this hobby at the airport in Springfield.

When asked about the U.S. Attorney's office in the Central District, Miller stated, "I am impressed with the caliber of people working here." He is very pleased with Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal/state network against gun violence. Additionally, he has focused his office on public corruption cases, "an area this district should be more active in, and we are moving in that direction." As for his overall goals for the office, Miller "want[s] to ensure that the U.S. Attorney's office here is the best law office in the district, which produces the best legal work in the district and, when compared to similar districts around the country, our work and people are recognized as top flight." When asked how he likes his new post thus far, Miller stated, "I think all of those former Assistant U.S. Attorneys I used to work for were correct. This is the best job someone can have."

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Aaron Freeman is a law student at the University of Dayton School of Law. He is a law clerk for the United States Attorney's office for the Central District of Illinois.