By ELIZABETH NEFF
Law Bulletin staff writer
Chicago attorney Steven A. Miller is a self-confessed "challenge
junkie."
In light of his desire to solve cases which have stymied others,
and his track record of doing just that, his latest assignment is a
natural: taking on organized crime in a local union.
Miller was appointed Aug. 31 by U.S. District judge Robert W,
Gettleman to investigate union officials from the Construction &
General Laborer's District Council of Chicago and Vicinity, and
to ferret out ties to organized crime. He received the
appointment as part of a consent decree reached in a racketeering
lawsuit against the Council, which is affiliated with the Laborers'
International Union of North America.
The national union and the federal government brought suit
against the Council as part of a nationwide effort to eliminate the
influence of organized crime on union affairs. Acting as
adjudications officer, former Illinois Supreme Court justice
Seymour F. Simon will hear charges brought by Miller, and will
decide what if any sanctions to impose.
It's a scenario that could fit nicely into one of many crime novels
Miller read while growing up, or into one of the American
history books he enjoys in his spare time.
"I've always been fascinated with crime and law enforcement," he
said in an interview at his Loop office Thursday afternoon. "I
have a deep respect for detectives and people that can put
complicated cases together."
An Evanston native whose father also was an attorney, Miller
said be made his way into the legal profession for "lack of an
alternative''
"My
father was a lawyer, it seemed interesting, and nothing else
pulled me in another direction," he said.
After attending Washington University in St. Louis for his
undergraduate degree, Miller decided to enter law school there as
well. He applied for an internship with the U.S. attorney's office
in the summer of 1978 on what he called a whim, and received it. The office then hired him as an assistant U.S. attorney after
graduation that same year,
What would follow was 18 years in a job that Miller not only
loved, but also was one that gained him notoriety as Chicago's
guru of solving the unsolvable. Miller is known for resurrecting
the case of missing candy fortune heiress Helen Vorhees Brach,
who disappeared in 1977. Ms five-year investigation led to the
conviction and life sentence in 1995 of Richard Bailey for
procuring her murder. A 1994 Vanity Fair article detailed his
work in obtaining the 1989 indictment of Deborah Hartmann,
charged with insurance fraud for collecting $800,000 after the
murder of her wealthy husband several years earlier.
Miller, 46, worked on
civil
matters for the office for five years
before deciding to try the criminal side, in which he had always
had an interest. He eventually rose to the position of chief of the
office's Special Prosecutions Section.
"I decided I would try the criminal side for a couple of years, and
then I had so much fun on the criminal side I stayed for another
13 years," said Miller. "Every day for 18 years I lofted forward
to going to work. I found it deeply emotionally satisfying to help
bring a measure of justice to people who had been grievously
injured, so there was a psychic income to that job which was
really very important."
Hanging on the wall in Miller's office are various awards, and a
plaque with a golden gavel, He calls the latter his favorite, as it was given to him by the family of Gail
Maher.
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A great lawyer who believed, fought, and won a great justice for
our family," the plaque reads. "Gail's life did matter in this
world. We will forever be grateful''
The Maher case involved Miller's prosecution of Thomas York,
and ex-Chicago police officer convicted of murdering his wife and
business partner for insurance proceeds, said Miller.
Miller said he solved many cases by using his intuition as a
starting point.
"What I excelled at was having a detective's intuition as to how
things must have happened, based on very scanty evidence,
Once I knew how it must have happened, I knew how to direct
the investigation to see whether the evidence was there to
validate my impression," he said.
Miller began to realize that the unsolved-murder cases he looked
into often had a common element; a complicated financial aspect
which local law enforcement had never focused on, for lack of
either training or resources.
"They went for confessions, eyewitnesses, forensics, the things
which usually put murders together, and none of those things
were present in the Helen Brach case or the other cases," said
Miller. "Rather than looking at these cases in a linear fashion, I
kind of looked at them from right angles, ... I would conduct
these mammoth financial investigations, and what I came to
realize is that you follow the fraud, solve the murder."
Miller's formula proved successful, but after the Brach case he
decided to go into private practice.
"All I had to look forward to was going back to my supervisory
responsibilities, which, although satisfying, was not exhilarating.
I'm a challenge junkie, so I needed another challenge," said Miller,
Miller said he has found private Practice as
a partner at Sachnoff &
Weaver even more
interesting
"The work is much more diverse, much more challenging," he said.
Miller concentrates in complex litigation,
doing investigations for
companies
and white collar criminal defense work.
Miller said he is just now beginning work
On his most recent assignment. He has had
existence with Prosecuting organized crime
in the past, and was responsible for breaking
up a Greek arson-for-profit ring among
others during his time with the U.S.
attorney's office.
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