Jim Miller, Jr. for Judge
Seat 25
A brief biography:
Jim Miller is the complete choice for judge. He is the only candidate in the race for seat 25 who: is a Superior Court Judge Pro Tem and appointed by the County Board of Supervisors to be a San Diego County Hearing Officer to hear appeals from County Departments, has trial experience as an attorney in criminal and civil law, has substantial family law experience, has trial experience in Federal and State Court, has been certified as an arbitrator by the Better Business Bureau and the San Diego County Bar Association, has appeared in every Southern California jurisdiction, has run his own law firm and business, is an NFL agent representing over 200 professional athletes, and has been designated as an “expert” in California and Texas courts.
Jim is the only true local candidate being born and raised in San Diego. He grew up in the East County and graduated from Valhalla High School. He attended San Diego State University as a varsity athlete and business major (B.S. degree in Business). He earned his Juris Doctorate from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. He started his career in a Civil Litigation law firm in Downtown San Diego. His current private practice has been based in El Cajon for over 14 years with active cases running in all of San Diego’s court venues. To judge our community it is believed that one should truly know our community.
Jim’s father, Jim Miller Sr., was one of the best known and respected attorneys in San Diego. He practiced Civil Litigation and became one of the top Family Law attorneys in Southern California. Jim Sr. passed away before his time in September 2009. Jim’s mother, Diane Miller, is an active philanthropist. She has been the past president of practically every charitable organization she has been a part of. She is current past president of the Juniors of Social Service Auxillary and past Chairperson of the Wine and Roses charity event which raises money to fund Camp Oliver in Descanso. She is a current board member to the Camp Oliver Board of Directors. Jim attributes his own charity work and time devoted to San Diego children and their causes to the influence of his mother and father.
Jim is married to his wife, Barbara, and the father of four having his oldest step-daughter graduate from Valhalla in 2006 as well as his next step-daughter in 2010 (now playing soccer in college). His youngest daughter, Jamie, is 4 years old and the center of his life. He is a Board Member to the Sharp Grossmont Hospital Foundation and Board Member to the Marshall Faulk Foundation among many other charities he supports. In this capacity he has helped to raise millions of dollars for San Diego charities.
His basic judicial philosophy is to rule on the law not legislate from the bench. He will punish violent criminals in criminal court, will hear both sides fairly in civil and family court and will throw out frivolous lawsuits. Jim was consulted by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher’s staff in their preparation of Chelsea’s Law. It is believed that Jim was the only judicial candidate in San Diego who consulted on the proposed law.
Presently Jim is working with Assemblymember Toni Atkins, Assemblyman Brian Jones and Senator Joel Anderson’s offices, among others, on legislation related to family law and the Harris case. In this case Crystal Harris, the victim of violent sexual abuse from her husband, was ordered to pay to her husband spousal support and attorneys fees because she was the primary wage earner during the marriage. Such an outcome cannot be tolerated in our society and Crystal has engaged Jim in the drafting of corrective legislation which has been provided to our legislative members listed here.
91% of our judges are former prosecutors (as is Jim’s opponent). Only 30% of our courts are established for criminal cases. Our family and civil departments are currently overrun with cases and the system lacks judges with the practical experience in these fields to ensure the community is receiving fair justice in these venues. Judges rotate courts and department assignments during their careers. Jim is the only candidate with the broad legal experience to handle all of the tough assignments he will face as a judge.