Ballard Spahr announced that Fred H. Miller — who has participated in all amendments made to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) since 1987 — joined the firm in its Minneapolis office.
Mr. Miller serves as special counsel in Ballard Spahr's Consumer Financial Services Group. He is widely regarded as a leading authority on UCC matters and payment systems—both within the UCC and beyond it, including virtual currency. His participation in the amendments to the UCC was the result of his appointment as a uniform law commissioner, his years of service on various UCC article drafting committees, and his roles as both president and executive director of the Uniform Law Commission—a more than 125-year old legislation research and drafting organization.
Mr. Miller is the current chair of the Uniform Law Commission Drafting Committee on the Regulation of Virtual Currency Businesses Act (RVCBA) and a proposed uniform act to accompany it, which provides commercial law rules for virtual currency transactions.
At various times throughout his career, Mr. Miller has worked with attorneys and clients on a wide variety of legal issues involving the Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and other federal consumer finance laws. He also is a former consultant to the Oklahoma Department of Consumer Credit, and to the Division on Consumer and Community Affairs of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) — where he advised the FRB Board of Governors on rewriting the Truth in Lending Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act Regulation B.
Prior to joining Ballard Spahr, Mr. Miller was a distinguished professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law for 40 years, where he taught courses in commercial law, contracts, consumer law, and real estate finance. He was the McAfee Taft Chair in Law and Centennial Professor at Oklahoma University and retired as the George L. Cross Research Professor Emeritus.
Mr. Miller has authored or co-authored more than 100 articles, books, or book chapters, including the second edition of The Law of Modern Payment Systems and Notes; The Lawyer’s Guide to Modern Payment Methods: ACH, Credit, Debit, and More; The ABCs of the UCC: Related and Supplementary Consumer Law; and The Law of Truth in Lending. In addition, he has presented at hundreds of CLE programs, at both the national and local level.
In 2005, the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers honored Mr. Miller with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The College grants the award periodically to those who have made significant contributions in the field of consumer financial services over the course of their careers. Mr. Miller joins Alan S. Kaplinsky, Co-Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr's Consumer Financial Services Group, as a recipient of the award.
Mr. Miller adds even greater depth to the firm's Consumer Financial Services Group, which is among the largest and best regarded in the legal industry. The Group is one of only a few consumer financial services practices to have been ranked year after year in the top tier by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. The Group is home to more than 125 attorneys nationwide who advise financial institutions of every size and type on regulatory matters, assist in the design and documentation of credit products, and represent clients in class actions, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and other lawsuits.