President George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on October 3, 2005.

Ms. Miers currently serves as the White House Counsel. Previously, she served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Staff Secretary to President Bush. In these positions, she was a principal advisor to the President on key domestic policy issues as well as the global War on Terror. She also directed the Administration’s selection of judicial nominees and worked to secure their confirmations.

Prior to coming to Washington, Ms. Miers had a distinguished career in both private practice and public service.

In 1972, Ms. Miers became the first woman associate hired at Dallas’s Locke, Purnell, Boren, Laney & Neely. She became a partner at the firm in 1978, and, in March 1996, her colleagues elected her to be the first female President of Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell, a firm that had grown to more than 200 lawyers.  Ms. Miers became the first woman to lead a major Texas law firm. Locke, Purnell eventually merged with a Houston firm and became Locke, Liddell & Sapp, LLP, where Ms. Miers became Co-Managing Partner and led the 400-plus lawyer firm. In her nearly 30 years in practice, Ms. Miers had a notable career as a litigator, representing such clients as Microsoft, Walt Disney Co. and SunGard Data Systems Inc.

Throughout her career, Ms. Miers has also been very active in the legal community and has blazed a trail for other women to follow. In 1985, Ms. Miers became the first woman President of the Dallas Bar Association, and, in 1992, she became the first woman to be elected President of the State Bar of Texas.  Ms. Miers served as the President of the State Bar of Texas from 1992 to 1993.

In addition, Ms. Miers has played an active role in the American Bar Association. She was one of two candidates for the Number 2 position at the ABA, Chair of the House of Delegates, before withdrawing to move to Washington to serve in the White House.  Ms. Miers also served as the Chair of the ABA’s Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice. The National Law Journal named her one of the country’s 100 most powerful attorneys and one of the nation’s Top 50 women lawyers.

Ms. Miers also has been involved in local and statewide politics in Texas. She was elected to an at-large seat on the Dallas City Council and later served as general counsel for the transition team of then-Governor-elect George W. Bush. From 1995 until 2000, Ms. Miers served as Chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission, a voluntary position she undertook while maintaining her legal practice and management responsibilities at her law firm.  When then-Governor Bush appointed Ms. Miers to a six-year term on the Texas Lottery Commission, the Commission was mired in scandal, and she served as a driving force behind its cleanup.

Throughout her career, Ms. Miers has remained involved in the community. For example, while she served as President of the State Bar of Texas, Ms. Miers logged 125 pro bono hours handling an immigration and naturalization case for Catholic Charities of Dallas. In addition, Ms. Miers has served on the Executive Board for the Southern Methodist University School of Law and as a Trustee for the Southwestern Legal Foundation.

Ms. Miers received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and her law degree from Southern Methodist University. She finished at the top of her law school class and served on the law review.   Upon graduation, she clerked for U.S. District Judge Joe E. Estes.