Attorney Profiles
Maxwell A. Miller Salt Lake City, Utah
| phone | 801-532-1234 |
| fax | 801-536-6111 |
| mmiller@parsonsbehle.com | |
| vCard |  |
Max Miller is a shareholder in the Litigation and the Corporate and Tax departments where he practices extensively in the area of local, state and federal taxation. His practice also includes administrative law, constitutional law and government affairs. Previously, he served as managing attorney for Utah Legal Services in Provo, Utah; as senior attorney and chairman of Legal Management for Mountain States Legal Foundation in Denver, Colorado; and as assistant attorney general in the Tax and Business Regulations Division of the Utah State Attorney General's Office.
Max has litigated significant tax and constitutional cases before administrative agencies and state and federal trial and appellate courts for clients such as Alliant Techsystems, Carbon County, Utah, Coastal Oil and Gas Corporation, Hercules Incorporated, Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation, J.C. Penney, MCI, The State of Utah, United Rentals, WorldCom, Viacom, National Right to Work Foundation, French Olympic Committee and other businesses and individuals.
Related Activities and Skills:
- Member and Former Chairman, Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee, Utah State Bar
- Member and Former Chairman, Board of Directors, Utah Taxpayers Association
- Utah State Bar, Former Chairman, Tax Section
- The Sutherland Institute (Utah "think-tank"), Former Member, Board of Trustees
- Utah State Bar, Government Law Section, Former Chairman
- Former President, Utah Lawyers Chapter, The Federalist Society
- American Bar Association, Committee on State and Local Taxation
- Co-Chair, 2000 Annual Meeting Utah State Bar
- Fluent in French
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America
- Selected to Mountain States Super Lawyers 2007-2011
- Selected to Corporate Counsel Super Lawyers 2009-2011
- Listed Among "Utah's Legal Elite," Utah Business
- Martindale-Hubbell AV rated
- "Tax Practitioner of the Year" 2010, Utah State Bar
Published Works:
- Utah's Proposition 6 Creates Tax Court To Ensure Fair Adjudication for Taxpayers, Winter 1999
- An Overview of Utah Insurance Law, October 21, 1999
- The Resurgence of Federalism: The Case for Tax-Exempt Bonds, 1997
Classes/Seminars Taught:
- "Tax Litigation in Nevada," Lorman Seminar, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
- Numerous presentations to Utah Taxpayers Association Utah, Taxes Now Conference
- Areas of Practice:
- Corporate & Tax Law
- Estate Planning
- Litigation & Appeals
- Natural Resources Law
- Political/Governmental Law
- Constitutional Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Insurance Coverage Litigation
- Tax Litigation
- Business Organizations
- Media & Entertainment Law
- Retail Law
- Tax Planning & Litigation
- Tax Advocacy
- Property Tax Appeals
- Bar Admissions:
- U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit
- Colorado, 1983
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1979
- U.S. District Court District of Utah, 1976
- Utah, 1975
- Education:
- University of Utah College of Law, Salt Lake City, Utah,
1975
J.D. degree
Law Journal: Journal of Contemporary Law, An Editor, 1975 - Brigham Young University,
1972
B.A. degree
Honors: Cum Laude
Honors: High Honors
Honors: University Scholar - L'Institut Catholique de Paris, France,
1974
Certificate, Highest Student Recognition: International Trade and Investment Regulation
- Published Works:
- Gelding the Lilly: The Competitive Disadvantages to American Companies, Sutherland Journal of Law and Public Policy, March 15, 2004
- Tax Litigation Primer, Corporate Business Taxation Monthly, November, 2000
- The Resurgence of Federalism: The Case for Tax-Exempt Bonds, Texas Review of Law & Politics, Spring, 1997
- Property Tax Deskbook, "Utah Property Taxes", ABA Section on Taxation, 1996-2010 Edition
- Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: State Taxation of Corporate Intangible Income without Factor Representation, The State and Local Tax Lawyer, ABA Section on Taxation, 1996
- Reach Out and Tax Someone: State Taxation of Income from the Sale of Intangibles, Utah Bar Journal, June/July, 1995
- Valuing Illiquid Property: The Pitfalls of Yield Capitalization, Journal of Property Tax Management, Spring, 1995
- Reforming the Reformation, A CPS Amendment to our New Administrative Procedures Act, Utah Bar Journal, Aug/Sept., 1988
- Judicial Activism and the Constitutional Amendment Process, 9 Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies 293, 1984
- Can Education Survive the New Equality?, 9 Journal of Social Political and Economic Studies 4, 1983
- Evenly Dividing a Nine-Member Court: The Political Question Doctrine in Coleman v. Miller: Goldwater v. Carter and Idaho v. Freeman, Detroit College of Law Review, 789, 1980
- Numerous newspaper and magazine columns on issues of public interest
- Representative Cases:
- Sierra Club v. Andrus, 487 F.Supp. 443 (D.D.C. 1980)
- Sierra Club v. Watt, 659 F.2d 203 (C.A.D.C. 1981)
- State of Idaho v. Freeman, 529 F.Supp. 1107 (D.Idaho 1981)
- Union Pacific R. Co. v. State Tax Com'n of Utah, 716 F.Supp. 543 (D.Utah 1988)
- Salt Lake County ex rel. County Bd. of Equalization of Salt Lake County v. State Tax Com'n ex rel. Kennecott Corp., 779 P.2d 1131 (Utah 1989)
- Wasatch County v. Tax Commision, 217 P. 3d 270 (Utah 2009)
- Utah Education Association v. Shurtleff, 565 F. 3d 1226 (10th Circuit 2009)
- Beaver County v. Utah State Tax Commission, 916 P. 2d 344 (Utah 1996)
- National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation Inc. v. Herbert, 581 F. Supp. 2d 1132 (D. Utah 2008)
- Beaver County v. Wiltel, Inc.,, 995 P. 2d 602 (Utah 2000)
- Representative Clients:
- BJ Titan Services
- Coastal Oil and Gas Corporation
- Kennecott Copper Corporation
- ATK Launch Systems Group
- Classes/Seminars Taught:
- "Tax Litigation in Nevada", Lorman Seminar, July 25, 2007
- "Utah's Oil and Gas Severance Tax: Its Past, Present and Future," breakfast briefing, August 23, 2005
- "Reducing Real and Personal Property Tax in Utah," sponsored by Lorman Education Services, August 25, 2005
- "Recent Court Cases That Will Affect Taxpayers," Utah Taxpayers Association Utah Taxes Now Conference, April 26, 2005
- "Utah Sales and Use Tax Update," National Business Institute, August 25, 2003
- "The Universal Tuition Tax Credit: Advancing Excellence Through Parental Choice and Empowerment", Sutherland Institute, 1999
- Speaker, Administrative Conference of the United States, 1984
- Honors and Awards:
- "Tax Practitioner of the Year," Utah State Bar, 2010
- Selected to Corporate Counsel Super Lawyers, 2009 - 2010
- Selected to Mountain States Super Lawyers, 2007 - 2008
- Constitutional Litigation Award, 1982
- Outstanding Young Man of America, 1979
- Professional Associations and Memberships:
- Utah State Bar Association, 1988 - 1989
- Chair, Government Law Section
- Colorado State Bar Association
- Member
- Utah State Bar Association
- Past Member, Legislative Affairs Committee
- Utah State Bar Association
- Member, Advertising Committee
- National Assn. of Private Non-Traditional Schools & Colleges, 1982 - Present
- The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies, 1984 - 1986
- Languages:
- French
- Fraternities/Sororities:
- Phi Kappa Phi
- Pi Sigma Alpha
- Phi Delta Phi
