Vanessa L. Miller is senior counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice and the Automotive Industry Team. Ms. Miller’s practice focuses on automotive supplier and appliance manufacturer disputes, general contract and business tort law, product liability, trade secrets, warranty claims, and successor liability disputes.
Ms. Miller has assisted clients in a broad range of complex litigation matters and trial work, including:
- Obtaining summary judgment for and an award of costs in favor of an engine manufacturer in a breach of warranty dispute in federal court
- Second chairing an arbitration against a Japanese supplier where hundreds of millions of dollars were at issue, but a favorable settlement outcome was negotiated, and leading international discovery efforts that spanned 3 continents and involved over 150 employees
- Managing and conducting extensive electronic discovery in large-scale complex litigations and arbitrations involving over one million documents
- Negotiating cost saving mechanisms for clients at outset of discovery, including comprehensive discovery protocols, cost-sharing agreements, translation agreements for international disputes and protective orders
- Obtaining temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions for automotive clients and appliance manufacturers threatened with a potential shutdown of operations based on supplier breaches of contractual obligations
- Defeating temporary restraining orders and motions for preliminary injunctions for automotive clients and appliance manufacturers
- Assisting with trials and arbitration hearings, including serving as a third chair for a four week jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, and serving as a second chair for a one week American Arbitration Association arbitration
Prior to joining Foley, Ms. Miller was a law clerk to the Honorable Patrick J. Duggan, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Ms. Miller earned her law degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Denver College of Law (J.D., 2004), where she was elected to the Order of St. Ives and served as general editor for the University of Denver Law Review and training editor for the Journal of International Law. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with distinction (B.A., 2001).
Ms. Miller is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in Michigan and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She is also an active member of the Federal Bar Association.
Ms. Miller recently authored the following publications and presentations:
- "Distribution and Franchise Successor Liability Examined," Detroit Legal News, June 2012
- "Buyer Beware: Distribution & Franchise Successor Liability," Foley's Product Distribution & Franchise Seminar - Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 2012
- "State of the Law Update: Contract and Commercial Transactions Law," Seventh Annual State of the Law Update, Association of Corporate Counsel - Michigan, April 2012
- Co-presenter, "Congratulations! You Got the Job. But, What is all this Paperwork?" Wind Energy Center, Michigan Technical Education Center, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, April 2012
- Co-presenter, "End of Matter Wrap-Up: Purchasing Law, Lessons Learned and Litigation Prevention," presented to client's sales, purchasing and legal departments following successful resolution of contract dispute, Michigan, April 2012