Karen Hamrick Miller

Attorney at Law, Miller & Amos

Photo by John Johnson.

By Jean Hardiman

As West Virginia’s first female labor and employment attorney to open her own practice, Karen Miller sat in her small office and turned down all cases outside of that field until she built the kind of practice she wanted—one established through careful selection and trust.

“It was heaven to be on my own,” says Miller, who is now an attorney with Miller & Amos in Charleston, WV. “I was a devoted lawyer, and my clients appreciated me for that.”

Miller’s career is one achieved through a strong work ethic she learned while growing up in Charleston, surrounded by her parents and five siblings. “It was a wonderful childhood,” she says. “We were required to be educated in the worlds of music, art, sports and Catholicism. My parents were fabulous role models who taught us the true reason for living—to have a purpose in life by helping others.”

Fierce dedication to her clients is something she learned from watching her father, a second-generation physician. Encouragement in choosing a profession that would leave her fulfilled came from both parents.

“My father and mother instilled in me the idea that having a profession—and giving yourself to that profession—is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life,” she says.

With a lifelong interest in law and a passion for public speaking and winning debates, Miller decided to pursue a career as an attorney. She received her law degree from West Virginia University (WVU) College of Law in 1982.

While there, she made lifelong friends. “Whether they are judges, practicing lawyers, teachers or corporate professionals, I can call them and they will answer,” she says. “I am not sure if it is West Virginia camaraderie or a culture that was developed at WVU, but it has been a blessing.”

The law professor who had the greatest impact on Miller was John Fisher, who taught property law. “There has never been a time when I did not feel I could call on him for mentoring and advice,” she says.

After graduation, Miller went to work for Fred Holroyd, a defense labor and employment lawyer in Charleston. “He taught me that I had to always be honest, self-confident, hardworking and thick-skinned if I was going to work in labor law on the defense side in West Virginia,” she says.

Becoming the first female solo lawyer in labor and employment law two and a half years later was the most exciting time of Miller’s life. “When it came to union negotiations, it was another world,” she recalls. “I sat across the table from older men who smoked cigars, engaged in excessive profanity and were not used to a non-cussing, nonsmoking young female.”

Today, Miller represents corporations in labor and employment law, as well as doctors with malpractice and other issues. Representing physicians is a practice that came along unexpectedly when Miller found herself wanting to help her brother, a surgeon who wanted to self-insure his malpractice insurance, which at the time was well over $100,000 per year. She won his case and has since opened her door to other physicians needing protection.

Of all her successes, Miller considers the most important to be her four children, whom she raised with her late husband, David. She has demonstrated for them the importance of working hard and serving her community. She has volunteered with the WVU campaign and visiting committees, the Kanawha County and West Virginia State bar associations, Charleston Area Alliance, Junior League of Charleston, West Virginia Colonial Dames and many other organizations that are near and dear to her heart. She is responsible for pioneering property renovation in Charleston’s Renaissance District in 1988, and she has taught classes at the University of Charleston and West Virginia State University, as well as lecturing often at WVU.

“Because I have always lived here and have been educated here, my ties to this state will never be broken,” she says. “I have gained a wealth of knowledge from—and a deep understanding of—the people of West Virginia. For this, I am very thankful.”