The Miller Law Firm, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

The Miller Law Firm, P.C. handles disputes. The firm's work covers high stakes business and commercial litigation, automotive industry litigation, shareholder and partnership fights in closely held businesses, employment litigation, class actions, arbitration, probate litigation, and securities fraud. Real estate litigation and breach of contract cases round out the list.

Two of those areas carry a Michigan accent. Automotive litigation, including supply chain and warranty disputes, tracks the state's manufacturing base. Minority shareholder oppression claims are also on the list, and Michigan has its own statutory framework for them.

In my opinion, the tighter grouping here is the closely held business cluster: minority shareholder oppression, shareholder disputes, investor rights, partnership disputes, and fiduciary duty cases. These matters tend to overlap in practice. A single falling out among owners can produce all five claims at once.

What business and commercial litigation usually involves

High stakes commercial cases generally start with a complaint in state or federal court, followed by motion practice over whether the claims survive. Discovery in these matters often runs long. Financial records, board minutes, emails, and contracts get exchanged, and expert accountants frequently value the disputed interest.

Many commercial disputes settle before trial. Some go to arbitration instead, when a contract requires it. The firm lists arbitration as its own practice area, which fits work in industries where supply agreements commonly include arbitration clauses.

How the team is built

The firm names twelve attorneys on its site. E. Powell Miller is listed as founding partner. Marc Newman, Martha J. Olijnyk, Kevin F. O'Shea, Sharon S. Almonrode, Melvin Butch Hollowell, Seth D. Gould, Christopher D. Kaye, Emily E. Hughes, Devon P. Allard, and Dennis A. Lienhardt, Jr. are all listed as partners. Brian M. Saxe is senior counsel.

That is a partner-heavy roster on the page. Eleven of the twelve named lawyers carry partner or founding partner titles.

The firm says it has about 40 lawyers in total, so the attorney page shows a portion of the bench. As a reviewer, the naming of the full partner group with titles is the useful part. A prospective client can see who leads the matters before making contact.

Growth since 1996

The firm started with three people in 1996 and describes itself today as a 40-lawyer litigation firm. That is a thirty-year run under the same name, with the founding partner still listed.

Continuity matters in litigation because cases outlive quarters. A commercial case filed today may still be in discovery two years from now. A firm that has held its shape across three decades has the staffing depth to carry that.

Where the firm works

The headquarters is in Rochester, Michigan. A second office operates in Detroit. The firm takes cases throughout Michigan and says it has handled litigation in other parts of the country.

The Detroit presence puts the firm near the federal courthouse for the Eastern District of Michigan, where most large commercial and class action filings in the region land. Rochester sits in Oakland County, which has its own business court docket. Michigan created specialized business courts to handle commercial disputes with judges assigned to that subject matter.

National reach in a litigation practice usually means one of two things. The firm either appears pro hac vice in courts outside its home state, or it works alongside local counsel in multi-district and class action matters. Class actions in particular draw firms across state lines, since a nationwide class can be certified in a single federal court.

What the record shows

The firm states on its home page that it has recovered over $10 billion for clients. That figure appears as a firm-wide claim across its history, and the site does not break it into individual matters.

Class action work and securities fraud claims are the areas where recovery totals typically climb into that territory. Both involve large groups of claimants, and settlement funds in those cases are distributed across many class members. A single certified securities class can involve thousands of shareholders.

As a reviewer, I read the number as a cumulative total rather than a per-case indication. Prospective clients evaluating any litigation firm should ask how a stated recovery figure maps onto matters like their own.

How class actions typically proceed

Class actions move through stages that differ from ordinary litigation. A named plaintiff files first. The court then decides whether to certify the class, which turns on whether the claims share enough common questions to be tried together.

Certification is often the decisive moment. Cases that clear it tend to settle, because the exposure changes. Cases that fail it usually shrink back to individual claims.

Court approval is required for class settlements. A judge reviews the terms and the notice plan before money moves. Class members get a chance to object or opt out.

Reading this listing

The firm's site gives clear information on three things: what it litigates, who the partners are, and where it sits. The practice area list is detailed enough to tell a business owner whether their dispute falls inside it.

The site does not publish attorney biographies, law schools, or admission years. Anyone weighing a specific lawyer will need to ask about background directly or check bar records.

For a Michigan business facing a dispute with a co-owner, a supplier, or a former employee, the practice area list lines up with the kinds of claims that arise. The same holds for probate litigation, where estate and trust fights often involve family businesses and the valuation questions that come with them.

The firm maintains a LinkedIn company page. It has offices in Rochester and Detroit, and it has been operating under the Miller name since 1996.

Attorney backgrounds beyond the firm page

The outside profile material in this record adds useful detail about individual lawyers. E. Powell Miller earned his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School in 1986. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn and an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit School of Law. His work includes business litigation and class actions, with additional experience in securities fraud and commercial real estate.

Marc Newman earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994. His profile connects business litigation with class action and mass tort matters. Securities litigation is another stated focus. Christopher D. Kaye, a 2000 graduate of the same law school, also handles securities cases. His record adds estate and trust litigation to his business and class action work.

Martha J. Olijnyk has one of the broader profiles in the record. She graduated cum laude from Wayne State University Law School in 1999. Her commercial work includes contract cases, automotive supplier issues, noncompetition agreements, and disputes among shareholders or partners. She also handles antitrust and intellectual property litigation. Her Chapter 11 work covers both creditor and debtor representation.

Experience in financial and public law disputes

Sharon S. Almonrode's background adds depth in financial claims. She handles securities and investment fraud as well as class actions and mass torts. Her profile also identifies fiduciary duty cases and ERISA pension or benefit plan class actions. Those subjects can require close review of plan documents, investment records, and the duties owed by decision makers.

Melvin B. Hollowell, Jr. brings a different practice mix. His work includes administrative law and government contracts alongside business litigation and government relations. That combination is relevant when a commercial dispute involves a public agency, a government procurement, or an administrative process.

Additional commercial experience

Brian M. Saxe earned his J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law in 2006. He previously owned Saxe Law Firm, PLLC and held management or partner roles at two other firms. His practice includes mergers and acquisitions and franchising, while his dispute work covers shareholder and partnership conflicts plus consumer class actions. The transactional component may help when a case turns on how an ownership deal or acquisition was structured.

Emily E. Hughes works across consumer law and commercial real estate. Her profile also lists franchising, insurance, class actions, and securities fraud. Devon P. Allard's stated work joins commercial real estate with employment and labor matters. These profiles indicate that the firm's business cases can draw on lawyers with experience in the underlying industry or legal relationship, rather than litigation procedure alone.