A Family History of Righting Wrongs

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The Miller family has accomplished a lot since graduating from Wayne State, including building a legacy of righting wrongs. Moderated by Dean Richard A. Bierschbach, Bruce Miller '54, and son E. Powell Miller '86 will reflect on their shared intergenerational commitment to creating voices for the underrepresented. 

Bruce's pursuit of justice began in the 1940s while still a high school student in Brooklyn. His passion was reignited during the civil rights era in Detroit, and he continues his work through his practice today. Bruce founded Miller Cohen, PLC, one of the preeminent civil rights and employment firms in Detroit, and aspires to live up to their motto of "Justice for Working People” daily.

E. Powell Miller continued the family legacy at Wayne Law, graduating third in his class in 1986. Powell is a nationally recognized litigator, founding his own firm, Miller Law Firm, P.C. in 1996. The firm specializes in complex dispute resolution and business litigation. Powell's work on class action lawsuits has helped individuals, who might not otherwise have a voice, receive justice against more powerful multinational corporations.

Bruce Miller '54

Bruce Miller has stood with the labor and civil rights movements as an activist, advisor and attorney for decades. He was successful in establishing the right of retired workers to draw workers compensation benefits. He represented employees in a case against the Ex-Cell-O company that took 12 years to litigate and resulted in awards to the plaintiffs in excess of 3 million dollars. He won an award in an arbitration case for 14 million dollars. He has also won other cases in the millions. He has been involved in litigation throughout the country on behalf of unions and worker rights. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in the United States and is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He has been honored by either serving or having served as General Counsel of the Metro AFL-CIO, the Michigan AFL-CIO, Labor's Hall of Fame, The A. Phillip Randolph Institute, the Sam Fishman Memorial Scholarship Fund and sat on the Lawyers Advisory Panel to the AFL-CIO. In fact, Mr. Miller has recently been appointed as the General Counsel for the Metro AFL-CIO.

Read more of Bruce Miller's biography 

E. Powell Miller '86

Powell Miller has been named one of the Top 10 lawyers in Michigan for ten consecutive years, from 2009-2019, by Super Lawyers Magazine, and in 2010, 2015, and 2019 he was the recipient of the Best Lawyers – Lawyer of the Year in the category of Bet-The-Company Litigation. In 2017, Mr. Miller was the recipient of the Judge Friedman and Cook Civility Award, which is awarded to only one lawyer each year. He has been named as one of the Best Lawyers in America every year since 2005. Mr. Miller has earned Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating, AV® Preeminent™ 5/5.0 for legal ethics and ability and a 10/10 from AVVO a public rating system. Mr. Miller is also ranked as only one of eight in Michigan to receive the highest Band 1 rating by Chambers USA, describing Mr. Miller as a “Superb trial lawyer” who “routinely acts for high-profile clients based across the [United] states.”

Read more of E. Powell Miller's biography

Please note: The timing of this event is Eastern Standard Time.

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For more information about this event, please contact Haley Briggs at 3135776199 or gk0909@wayne.edu.

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