J. Parker Miller

Parker Miller is a Principal in the firm’s Toxic Torts section. He maintains a diverse practice, but recently he has focused primarily on complex litigation, property owner and business-on-business litigation.

Since joining the firm in 2008, Parker has developed a reputation as a tireless worker and a fearless advocate for his clients in matters of national significance. In 2012, and then again in 2014, the Firm selected Parker as Toxic Tort Section Lawyer of the Year for his efforts on behalf of his clients. Parker is rated an AV Preeminent attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible Martingale-Hubbell rating a lawyer can achieve in the categories of legal knowledge, analytical capabilities, judgment, communication ability and legal experience. He has been profiled by Law 360, a national legal publication, as one of the top lawyers in the nation younger than 40 and one of just five lawyers selected by the publication in the environmental field. The prestigious Super Lawyers publication has designated Parker a “Rising Star” - a designation that recognizes a select few top lawyers younger than 40.

In recent years, Parker has dedicated a significant portion of his practice to the Deepwater Horizon / BP oil spill litigation. The litigation was a tragic consequence of the April 20, 2010, fire and explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana. The explosion set off the worst environmental disaster in United States history and what is considered to be the most significant litigation in recent United States history. Parker currently serves as co-counsel to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and was appointed by Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of Alabama in the oil spill litigation. He has played a major role on behalf of the State, both in Court in Louisiana and in evaluating the State’s damages, to ensure the State is fully compensated for damages associated with the oil spill.

Parker also worked extensively to assess and recover damages for private claimants throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and he oversaw the Firm’s fishermen and personal injury clients devastated by the oil spill. In addition, Parker has represented hundreds of businesses throughout the affected area. Parker was also selected to serve as Second Chair to Beasley Allen’s Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in New Orleans, La. Ultimately, the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee reached a landmark uncapped, multi-billion dollar settlement with BP for private claimants throughout the Gulf of Mexico. To date, Parker has recovered millions in compensation on behalf of his clients in the litigation.

In addition to Parker’s oil spill litigation work, he also played an integral role in the Hot Fuel Multi-District Litigation, which is consolidated in Kansas City, Kan., and is serving as Beasley Allen’s Second Chair to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. In that case, Parker represented numerous trucking companies and assumed a leadership role in coordinating national offensive discovery efforts against the largest oil companies in the world. Ultimately, these cases survived the class certification stage, and the litigation has achieved in excess of $20 million in settlements to date.

Parker’s success has also transferred to other cases. He has worked on and achieved significant recoveries on behalf of his clients, including cases involving personal injury, business-on-business product liability, and a large charitable trust dispute.

In the course of his career, Parker has been quoted in Law 360, the Montgomery Advertiser and the Mobile Press Register. He has also appeared on numerous occasions as both an attorney host and guest on WSFA’s Law Call and The Beasley Allen Report television programs. Parker is a frequent lecturer and speaker, and has appeared on the following programs:

• Practicing and Succeeding as a Young Attorney, Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama. (March 21, 2011).
• An Update on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Litigation, Beasley Allen Legal Strategies Conference, Atlanta, Georgia. (September 15, 2011).
• Litigating the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, a Roundtable Discussion with Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s legal counsel Cooper Shattuck, Alabama Solicitor General Corey Maze, Beasley Allen Attorney Parker Miller and Gulf Coast Claim Facility Alabama Chief Legal Advisor Gregory Hawley, Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama (October 5, 2011).
• An Update on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Litigation, Beasley Allen Legal Strategies Conference, Montgomery, Alabama (November 20, 2011).
• Litigating Multi-District Litigation, A Case Study of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Toledo Federal Bar Association (January 23, 2012).
• Landing Employment in the Law, a Roundtable Discussion Sponsored by the Alabama Young Lawyers Division at the University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa, Alabama (January 31, 2013).
• The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – An Analysis of Case Management and Legal Issues, American Inns of Court, Hugh Maddox Chapter, Montgomery, Alabama (February 7, 2013).
• An Update on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Litigation, Alabama State Bar Annual Meeting, Destin, Florida (July 10, 2014).
• Obtaining Employment in a Difficult Legal Market, Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama (February 4, 2015).

Parker graduated high school from Marengo Academy in 2001. He attended Auburn University and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2005. He received his law degree from Faulkner University in 2008. While attending law school, Parker studied international law abroad in conjunction with Tulane University at the Universitiet van Amsterdam. He was recognized by the American College of Trial Lawyers as one of the nation’s finest student advocates and received the Lewis F. Powell Jr. American College of Trial Lawyers Medal of Excellence in Advocacy.

Parker maintains an active role in various local, state and national legal and non-legal societies. He was selected as an Alabama State Bar Young Lawyer executive committee member as well as a State of Alabama Young Lawyer Delegate to the American Bar Association. As part of his service, he was elected by his executive committee peers as an officer of the State Bar Young Lawyers program. He is also a committee member to the Alabama State Bar’s Volunteer Lawyers Program, a program dedicated to providing free legal assistance to those who could otherwise not afford it; a member of the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Grievance Committee; the American Association for Justice and the Association’s Oil Spill Litigation Taskforce; the American Inns of Court, Hugh Maddox Chapter; chairman of the Alabama State Bar Admission Ceremony; and former chairman of the Father Walters Charity Golf Tournament.

Parker was raised on a cattle farm in Dayton, Ala., and is the son of Mary and Tommy Miller. He is married to the former Ashley Brownsberger of Tampa Bay, Fla., and together they have one daughter, Sophia Elizabeth Miller, and attend the Church of the Holy Spirit in Montgomery, Ala.