Willis D. Miller

Willis Dance Miller (January 30, 1893 – December 20, 1960) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia from 1947 to 1960.

Miller was born in Powhatan County, Virginia. He attended public schools in Powhatan County and Randolph Macon Academy in Bedford. Later, he attended Richmond College, Washington and Lee University and the University of Richmond School of Law. In 1914, he received his degree, was admitted to the bar and started practice in Richmond, where he practiced until 1935. He was reviser of the Richmond City Code in 1924. From 1925 to 1936, he was Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Richmond. In that position, he prosecuted all criminal cases arising on the south side of the James River. These cases were heard in the Manchester Courthouse. (As a result of the agreement by which the cities of Manchester and Richmond merged in 1910, the merged city of Richmond maintained two courthouses until 2007.)With the endorsement of the bar of the City of Richmond, he was selected by the General Assembly to serve as the judge of the Law and Equity Court of Richmond, succeeding Judge Robert N. Pollard, who had been appointed to the United States District Court. He rendered some 6000 decisions as judge of that court, and was reversed in only six. In 1947, he was appointed by Gov. William M. Tuck to the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, the first Richmond lawyer or judge to serve on the state's highest court for more than 100 years. Justice Miller's retirement took effect on December 20, 1960, a few hours before his death on the same day. Justice Miller received an honorary LL. D. from the University of Richmond in 1951.

It was said that there probably was no family in Virginia, and perhaps the nation, with such a long continuous record in the legal profession. Justice Miller was the fifth generation in the direct male line. The first, Thomas M. Miller, received his license to practice from George Wythe and John Randolph in 1763, during the time of the French and Indian War. The Justice's only child, also named Thomas M. Miller, was also a lawyer. Justice Miller married the former Eliza Ingram of Richmond in December 1919. He was survived by his wife and son.

Justice Miller was said to have a keen sense of humor and a penetrating intellect,to be possessed of boundless energy, and to speak with a "delightful drawl". He was characterized by members of the bar as a friendly and humble man who never looked down upon those who appeared before him, and a man with surpassing integrity and an innate sense of right and wrong. His work as a judge was guided by a philosophy of judicial restraint, deference to the legislature, and adherence to precedent. Courts should continue "to adhere to precedent whenever reasonably possible and until departure is demanded by most compelling causes", he told the Virginia Bar Association in a 1953 speech. "He wrote in a rugged and straightforward manner", and quickly recognized the right of a case, according to Chief Justice John Eggleston, with whom Justice Miller had served for 13 years on the Supreme Court.

Justice Miller was succeeded on the Supreme Court of Virginia by Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Harry Lee Carrico, who proceeded to become the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Sources

• Virginia State Bar Association Reports, volume 72, 1961 and Directory of American Judges, 1955, and Memorial to Justice Willis Dance Miller, 220 Va. cliii (April 17, 1961).