A prominent Danbury-based civil rights attorney said her one-year suspension from the Connecticut bar was racially motivated and retaliatory.

In a wide-ranging interview Monday morning with the Connecticut Law Tribune, Josephine Smalls Miller, an attorney for 40 years, including 16 years in Connecticut, said she was singled out for offenses that white attorneys routinely wouldn't get disciplined for. That, in fact, is the crux of her argument as Miller, who is black, prepares to appear before the Connecticut Supreme Court Jan. 22 for oral argument in Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel v. Miller.

The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel brought presentment actions against Miller on four counts. They include the alleged commingling of personal funds with client funds in her Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, repeatedly failing to appear for trial court proceedings and failure to use the proper procedure to request continuances in multiple cases.

Miller, 66, was suspended from practicing law from November 2018 to November 2019 and has appealed to be reinstated. A decision on her reinstatement will be made some time next year by the OCDC.

Miller appealed her suspension and the state's high court agreed to take up the matter. The Connecticut Supreme Court will decide, among other things, whether Miller engaged in misconduct and whether her suspension was warranted.

In court papers, Miller gives what she says are numerous examples of black and white attorneys being treated differently for similar offenses.

As one example of white attorneys allegedly receiving different treatment than black attorneys, Miller writes in court papers: "The court is asked to take judicial notice of the case of attorney Howard Lawrence who had been reprimanded on six occasions between 1991 and 2012. Despite this disciplinary history, on May 9, 2012 he was nevertheless permitted to reach an agreement whereby conditions were imposed by the court that allowed him to utilize the services of a practice mentor to, inter alia, assist him with his case calendaring upcoming court dates and other deadlines, It was not until sometime later, on July 27, 2012, that action was taken to place him on inactive status for an indefinite period until further order of the court."

The phone number for Lawrence's law offices does not work and he could not be reached.

Miller said she believes she was targeted by the OCDC and state Judicial Branch.

"They [the Statewide Grievance Committee and OCDC] do not like some of the cases I've brought in representing other people," Miller said. "I'm outspoken and I've gotten a few seven-figure verdicts that always seem to get thrown out. Anybody who does not walk in lockstep with the Judicial Branch is seen differently. I am somewhat of an outlier. I don't mind being an outlier. I always have been."

Miller continued: "I can't do anything but speak out. The [racial] division in this country often rears its ugly head. It happens in the banking industry, in housing and criminal justice is no different from the rest of society."

Miller also claimed racial discriminatory practices and racial bias by the court when she was suspended for six months from practicing law back in 2014. In that separate case, the Connecticut Appellate Court ruled Miller "threatened the vital interests of her own clients" while also consuming an inordinate amount of the court's time.

Specifically, as it relates to the current presentments, Miller said she never stole money from anyone. She alleged there have been white attorneys who had stolen money and weren't suspended.

With regard to the commingling of funds count against her, Miller said it revolved around a $200,000 loan given to her by a then-friend. Miller said she does not know why the friend gave her the loan, but added she believes that loan was a setup to get her in trouble.

"I placed that as a gift in my IOLTA account," Miller said. "I had trepidations about taking the check. She then demanded the money back. I think someone put this lady up to this. I never stole the money. I never spent a dime on myself. I gave some money to a church, but never touched the money myself. I ended up giving her a check for the full amount."

As to the count of repeatedly failing to appear for trial court proceedings, Miller said, in some cases she was ill while on other cases there were work conflicts.

Miller, who has not practiced law since November 2018 when she was suspended, said the past year "has only strengthened me. It's strengthened my trust in God and my resolve."

Brian Staines, chief disciplinary counsel for the OCDC, did not respond to several requests for comment Monday.

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