Kerry J. Miller

Kerry Miller is a partner in Fishman Haygood’s Litigation Section. Kerry has the distinction of trying both the longest civil and criminal trials in the history of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. As jury trials resumed following pandemic related delays, Kerry tried the first civil jury trial in federal court in Louisiana and in Miami-Dade County in state court. Since June 2021, Kerry has tried several jury trials and participated in a large arbitration matter.

Kerry’s trial practice is as diverse as it is busy. He has tried cases involving environmental contamination, products liability, breach of contract, breach of lease, redhibition, unfair trade practices, Jones Act, civil and criminal RICO and civil and criminal provisions of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act.

Further, Kerry has tried cases for plaintiffs and defendants, companies and individuals, judge and jury trials, state and federal trials, bellwether and limited issue trials in multi-district litigation (MDL) proceedings and for policyholders in domestic and international arbitrations.

Most recently, Kerry tried a case on behalf of a charter school and the Orleans Parish School Board related to defective construction work at a school building that resulted in the displacement of school children. The month-long trial was held in Orleans Parish Civil District Court and concluded in early February 2025 with a verdict that will total $10 million with interests and costs for the firm’s clients.

In addition to his trial work, Kerry has gained unique complex litigation experience as the appointed lead counsel in the BP oil spill MDL, Chinese Drywall MDL and Hurricane Katrina related environmental litigation. In these sprawling cases, Kerry has litigated all types of jurisdictional, discovery and evidentiary issues, which are reflected in more than a hundred reported decisions. While Kerry enjoys a broad civil and criminal defense practice, he has developed extensive knowledge of environmental, industrial failure, construction, commercial litigation, and insurance coverage matters.

Kerry is recognized for Litigation: General Commercial by Chambers & Partners, with clients noting that he “operates at the highest level of sophistication.”

For his litigation work, Kerry was also named to Forbes’ inaugural edition of America’s Best-in-State Lawyers list in 2025. In addition, he has been recognized among Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in Energy (since 2023), the Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law (since 2023), the 500 Leading Litigators in America (since 2024), and the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (since 2024).

Kerry is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers.