A well-known Ocean Springs lawyer fails clients, loses license and faces reprimand
A well-known criminal defense attorney in Ocean Springs no longer has a license to practice law in Mississippi and is the subject of a court order for a public reprimand.
J. Adam Miller has not practiced law in Mississippi for some time after working as an attorney for at least 22 years, Mississippi Bar records show. He had more recently been traveling with his family and eventually settled in Nashville, Tennessee, according to social media posts.
Miller could not initially be reached to comment on multiple client complaints that eventually led to the state Supreme Court order for a public reprimand via the Mississippi Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility.
Miller ran afoul of rules that govern attorneys and was suspended from the practice of law for six months in September 2019 by a Complaint Tribunal of the state Supreme Court. The suspension was publicized in the Fall 2019 edition of Mississippi Lawyer, a quarterly publication of the bar.
Miller has not applied for reinstatement to practice law, something the suspension required him to do. He also failed to appear recently in Jackson County Circuit Court for his public reprimand.
Attorney defends his actions
In response to the report Monday, Miller reached out to defend his actions.
“While I’m prohibited ethically from disclosing detailed information in the matter, I did fully respond to each and every allegation from the bar association in this matter with documents and affidavits,” Miller said. “However, due to a procedural ruling in the hearing on this matter, my responses were not allowed to be considered even though they thoroughly evidenced no violations on my part.
“The tribunal ruling and order only considered the allegations and accepted them without debate or discussion and did not consider the responses I provided.”
Miller noted he had successfully practiced law for years, representing thousands of clients in what he says was the same “manner as every other criminal defense lawyer does but for some reason my actions were treated as ethical violations.”
He said that he was unaware of the date for the public reprimand in Jackson County Circuit Court because he was not given notice. He was not required to attend, he said.
“I am required to accept the six-month suspension and other assessments levied in this matter and will proceed accordingly as the order and rules require,” Miller said.
Complaints filed by clients
The five complaints involved violating multiple Rules of Professional Conduct that apply to attorneys in Mississippi. In the cases, Miller was accused of accepting thousands of dollars in fees without representing his clients. In several cases, he responded, the clients failed to pay the full fees
But the Complaint Tribunal found that, even if the full fees were not paid, Miller should have put any partial unearned fees in a trust account but failed to do so. Miller did not respond at all to two of the complaints.
Two more complaints followed because he failed to notify clients that he had been suspended and could not represent them.
The public reprimand resulted from a case in which Miller was supposed to be representing a woman on a felony DUI charge but did not tell her that he had been suspended even though the case was ongoing.
A formal complaint is pending in a second case. The complaint says that Miller failed to show up in court to defend a client he was representing and from whom he had accepted at least $2,000 in fees.
The client’s husband said he called Miller afterward to find out why he was not in court and Miller told him the hearing had been reset. Miller never mentioned that he had been suspended and could not practice law, the complaint said.
Miller handled numerous high-profile cases, including DUI charges against former 3 Doors Down bassist Todd Harrell and lawsuits filed against the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office during the administration of Sheriff Mike Byrd, who was eventually forced to resign from office for criminal wrongdoing.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
