GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – Earlier today, Grand Rapids attorney Patrick Miles, Jr., 44, took the oath of office as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. The oath was administered by the Honorable Paul L. Maloney, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court. Miles was nominated by President Barack Obama on March 29, 2012 and was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 29, 2012. Miles is the first African American to hold the post of U.S. Attorney for Western Michigan.

“It is a tremendous honor to serve the people of West Michigan as U.S. Attorney,” Miles said. “I am thankful to the West Michigan lawyers on the local selection review committee who recommended me last August to Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. I appreciate the trust the committee, Senators Levin and Stabenow, and the President are placing in me. I am humbled by and grateful for their support. I look forward to working with the excellent professionals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

U.S. Attorney Miles replaces Donald A. Davis, who was appointed as the U.S. Attorney by the court in October, 2008.

Miles began his legal career as an associate at the Grand Rapids-based law firm of Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt and Howlett in 1991 after graduating from Harvard Law School. He became a partner at the age of 29 and was the first African American partner in Varnum’s 110-year history. Miles joined the national law firm of Dickinson Wright PLLC in 2006 as a partner based in the Grand Rapids office. In 2010, Miles ran to represent Michigan’s Third District in Congress. He won the Democratic primary, but did not win the November general election.

A Grand Rapids native, Miles graduated from Ottawa Hills High School at the age of 16. After spending a year at Great Lakes Bible College (now known as Great Lakes Christian College), Miles graduated from Aquinas College with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with an economics major.

Miles served as President of the Grand Rapids Bar Association from 2004 to 2005. He also was chairman of the Aquinas College Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2008. Most recently, he was President of the Grand Rapids Black Chamber of Commerce. His local community involvement includes past service as a board member and officer of Advisory Center for Teens, Greater Grand Rapids YMCA, Hope Network, Inner-City Christian Federation, Spectrum Health Foundation, Spectrum Health Hospitals, and DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation. Miles previously was elected as a Grand Rapids Bar Association Trustee and chaired its Diversity Committee from 1998 to 2002.

The U.S. Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer in the District, responsible for federal criminal prosecutions and civil cases involving the U.S. Government. The Western District of Michigan consists of 49 counties, including the entire Upper Peninsula, as well as 11 federally-recognized Native American Indian Tribes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is comprised of 75 employees, including 35 attorneys and 40 support staff.  The main office, where U.S. Attorney Miles is headquartered, is in Grand Rapids, and branch offices are located in Lansing, Marquette and Kalamazoo.

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