Carrie Miller - Class of 2023
Before Law School…
I moved to Morgantown from Eldora, Colorado where I worked for a nearby criminal defense law firm, and I was a policy fellow for the Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition. My time at the law firm was spent assisting lawyers with legal drafting, research, and a variety of other tasks. As a policy fellow, I wrote, researched, and provided policy recommendations for many immigration bills at the state and federal levels. Additionally, I was able to provide resources and information for undocumented immigrants regarding receiving COVID-based health care and emergency financial funds. This included finding Charity In-Kind programs at local hospitals that do not require you to provide immigrant status and looking for exceptions to the verification process for health care when it comes to communicable diseases, like COVID.
Why WVU Law?
I was lucky enough to have multiple offers from great law schools across the country. However, WVU was the clear choice due to its emphasis on public service, student life, and the quality of professors teaching here. My family is in North Carolina and I call rural Blue Ridge Mountains home. It is truly the region of which I want to begin, continue, and finish my career. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of the WVU College of Law community!
Law Interest?
My background and my primary interests are undoubtedly at the juncture of public service, social justice, juvenile law, and human rights law. I graduated with my Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. While at CU-Denver I worked as a graduate assistant for the Center on Domestic Violence. Throughout this time leading up to law school I was able to work with some phenomenal attorneys and paralegals in criminal, civil, and family law - they are really responsible in shaping my interest and advocacy within the law. While my time at these firms showed me some of the important ways the law can provide for people who are in need, it also showed me some of its inherent shortcomings. My interest in the legal field is driven by the idea that the legal system has the potential to center the service of people above all else, and in our current climate that idea feels like a rarity.
In 10 years…
I hope to be working in the public service sector. My dream job would be working within Legal Aid or as a guardian ad litem.
Outside of Law School…
If I am not busy reading for class, you can find me hiking around Morgantown with my three dogs, camping with my partner Matt, or skiing if it's winter!
