Biological Sciences alumna integrates research skills into work as successful attorney at Missoula firm

Attorney Angie Miller (Biological Sciences, ’17) is a partner at Ryan & Miller in Missoula, and says that she uses the research skills she learned as an undergraduate student at Montana Technological University.

Miller graduated from the University of Montana Alexander Blewett III School of Law in 2020, where she finished in the top 15% of her class and was a member of the National Moot Court Team. She joined Paul Ryan & Associates after interning there for three years. She is now a named partner at Ryan &  Miller.

Miller came to Montana Tech as a volleyball recruit from Windsor, Colorado. She wanted to leave Colorado for Montana, and desired a high-quality education.

“It was important to me to go to a school that had a good academic program,” Miller said. “After looking at all of my options, I decided that Butte was where I wanted to be.”

Miller chose Biological Sciences because she was interested in medicine and the law. Law school requires any undergraduate degree to apply, but medical schools often prefer candidates with a background in biology, chemistry, or related fields of study.

“I think Montana Tech, especially the Biological Sciences program, was tough,” Miller said. “We were challenged; it wasn’t a cakewalk. It really taught me how to study, and not just test well, but really understand the material.”

Miller worked at an attorney’s office and she completed a job shadow experience with a judge during high school. By the time her senior year rolled around, she was set on law school.

“All the professors at Montana Tech were very supportive, especially Dr. Stella Capoccia, who helped me tap into both my interests in law and biology for my senior project,” Miller said.

For her senior project, Miller studied the correlation between resting heart rates and psychopathic tendencies. She was interested in learning if there was a way to identify early markers of psychopathy and how that could be used in the justice system regarding rehabilitation and treatment of individuals to help them succeed and decrease recidivism rates.

Miller’s practice areas include criminal defense, personal injury, wrongful death, and medical malpractice.

“Medical malpractice really aligns with my Biological Sciences degree,” Miller said. “I have found that my degree is extremely helpful in understanding cases and being able to go through medical records. In personal injury cases what’s being fought over is a person’s true injuries, so being able to go through medical records and feel comfortable with medical terminology and understanding the human body has been very beneficial as well.”

When unique cases come in, Miller knows how to go about researching topics she’s unfamiliar with.

“If I get a call for a medical malpractice case in an area I’ve never seen before, I have the knowledge from going to Montana Tech of knowing how to do research, how to learn about a topic that I don’t know much about, and work to have a really good understanding of that material to help my client,” Miller said.

Miller says perfecting time management has been a big part of her journey as a professional, and she started learning best practices as a college athlete.

“Being a college athlete was a difficult thing,” Miller said. “There was tons of practice and tons of time training. I felt like there was so much time in the gym, and then we were on the road traveling to games. That did make it hard. It became extremely difficult especially while trying to get such a rigorous degree. I really learned time management from being at Montana Tech, which helped me in law school.”

Miller says students with an interest in the law should do a job shadow experience to find out if they really want to go into the field. She recommends that pre-law graduates choose majors they enjoy or are passionate about.

 “You can always go to law school after that,” Miller said. “If you want to become an attorney, you must  be prepared to work hard.”

Miller says that any students considering a career as an attorney can get in touch with her if they have questions. To learn more visit https://ryanmillerlaw.com/.

To learn more about pre-law opportunities at Montana Tech, click here.