When Derek E. Miller, attorney and founder of D. Miller Law P.C., tells a jury he understands how prosecutors think, he is not making a rhetorical point. He spent more than a decade on the other side of the aisle — first as an Assistant Prosecutor at the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, then rising to Chief of Operations overseeing 60 attorneys and thousands of cases every year. That institutional knowledge is not just a marketing line. It is the foundation of how he practices law.
“When you know how the sausage is made, the restaurant runs smoothly and the patrons leave happy,” Miller says. For his clients — many of them facing criminal charges or fighting the Social Security Administration for disability benefits they desperately need — that inside perspective can be the difference between justice and another loss to a system stacked against them.
A Career Built on Two Sides of Justice
Miller grew up in Warren, Michigan, the son of a State Senator. Watching his father navigate constituent problems planted the seed early: he wanted to be the person people turned to when they were in trouble. His father also carried a professional regret — never getting his law degree. That stayed with Miller, who went on to graduate from Michigan State University and then the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
At U of D, Miller found his footing through the school’s Project Salute program, traveling the country to help underrepresented veterans secure disability benefits. That hands-on work — shaking hands with actual clients, making a tangible difference — shaped his entire legal philosophy.
“It was the only class experience in Law School where you actually were able to shake hands with a client, a hero and help them,” he has said. “I loved it.”
After graduating during the Great Recession, Miller took a job at the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office in 2010. He worked some of the busiest dockets in the county, often handling up to 50 cases per day. He served as Office Liaison to the Drug and Sobriety Courts and Deputy Chief of the Senior Crimes Unit, and became a proud member of Warren FOP Lodge 124.
From Prosecutor to State Legislator
In November 2014, Miller was elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives at 31, representing Warren and Center Line. He was named Assistant Floor Leader in his first term and served on the House Energy and Insurance Committees. His legislative work was not abstract policymaking. He authored real laws with real names attached to real victims.
One of Miller’s most defining prosecutorial cases involved a woman named Rachel Edwards, who was convicted of child abuse after Miller proved she was administering her own mental health medication to a young boy to keep him indoors. The judge chose not to sentence Edwards to prison. Shortly after, she abused another child — a boy named Wyatt — and nearly killed him.
His mother, Erica Hammel, and the first victim’s mother, Cristyne Kadlitz, wanted a system that could identify repeat abusers. Miller, now in the legislature, wrote the first-ever Child Abuse Registry in Michigan and named it in Wyatt’s honor. Wyatt’s Law was eventually passed into law. That is the kind of impact Derek E. Miller, attorney and lawmaker, leaves behind.
An Unconventional Detour — and a Return to Purpose
In April of 2022, Miller made an unexpected move into the private sector, joining UPS subsidiary Coyote Logistics as a National Director of Business Development. Coyote was the third-largest freight broker in North America. Miller navigated complex supply chain strategies, cross-border freight logistics between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, and protected clients from volatile political and tariff pressures during both the Biden and Trump administrations.
His client list included Amway, Flex-n-Gate, Fisher Automotive, and The Macomb Group, among others. It was a sharp turn from criminal law — but Miller brought his legal and strategic instincts to every deal.
After three years, he walked back into the courtroom.
“I felt like I had to get back to helping people with what I knew best,” he says.
What D. Miller Law P.C. Does — and Who It Serves
On the disability side, Miller represents clients whose health conditions have made it impossible to work, guiding them through the notoriously complex Social Security Disability benefits process. Many applicants are denied on their first attempt, and navigating appeals without legal counsel is a serious disadvantage. Miller’s background helping veterans at Project Salute and his decade of government experience give him a working knowledge of how bureaucratic systems operate — and where they can be challenged.
On the criminal defense side, Miller brings something most defense attorneys do not have: years spent on the prosecution. He knows the internal conversations that happen before a case goes to trial. He knows which elements are hardest to prove. He knows where the weaknesses are.
“As a Prosecutor I met with detectives and decided how cases would be charged and tried,” he explains. “Now as a defense lawyer I know the conversations those prosecutors are having behind closed doors. I know where the holes are. Now it’s my job to shine a light on those weaknesses.”
His client base reflects the human cost of poverty, addiction, and a justice system that often fails people who lack resources or education. Miller does not speak about these clients with clinical distance. He speaks about the need to rethink education, to teach practical life skills — how to get a driver’s license, how to shop for food, what taxes are — to people who simply were never taught.
“These people have never been taught things that our parents taught us at home,” he says, “and they are suffering.”
Building for the Future
The Firm is growing. Miller recently hired his first paid intern from his alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law — Caleb Watson, an Oxford High School graduate whose siblings attendedthe school during the 2021 mass shooting that claimed four students. Watson went on to attend Michigan State before beginning law school, and Miller sees that kind of motivation as exactly the kind of energy he wants in the practice.
Beyond litigation, D. Miller Law P.C. offers strategic counsel on government affairs. If you have a legislative idea, are considering a run for office, or have a business stuck at a bureaucratic dead end, Miller’s combination of political science training, legal credentials, legislative service, and courtroom experience makes him one of the more distinctively qualified advisors in the region.
The number is 1-855-Let-D-Help.
Derek E. Miller, attorney, prosecutor, legislator, and advocate, has spent his entire career solving problems for people who did not know where else to turn. That was the job he watched his father do from a young age. He built a career making sure he could do it better than almost anyone else.
D. Miller Law P.C. serves clients across metro Detroit in criminal defense and Social Security Disability cases. For consultations, call 1-855-Let-D-Help.