Burlington attorney Eric Miller has received the presidentโ€™s backing to be Vermontโ€™s next U.S. Attorney.

President Barack Obama nominated Miller on Thursday. Obama described the attorneyโ€™s career as โ€œdistinguished and impressiveโ€ in a statement.

โ€œI am confident that, as a U.S. Attorney, he will be relentless in his pursuit of justice and serve the people of Vermont with distinction,โ€ Obama said.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., recommended Miller for the post in February. Vermontโ€™s senior senator chairs the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where Millerโ€™s confirmation will be considered.

Miller has been a partner at the Burlington law firm Sheehey Furlong and Behm, P.C. for more than a decade. A graduate of Yale Law School, Miller has worked on federal civil and criminal cases and served on the Criminal Justice Act panel of the U.S. District Court.

โ€œI have been impressed with Ericโ€™s thoughtfulness, vision and depth of experience,โ€ Leahy said in a statement.

Vermontโ€™s previous U.S. Attorney, Tristram Coffin, resigned from the post in January to return to private practice. Eugenia A. Cowles has been serving in the interim.

Millerโ€™s wife, Elizabeth, will be leaving her position as Gov. Peter Shumlinโ€™s chief of staff later this month. Her decision is unrelated to her husbandโ€™s appointment, she has said.

Twitter: @emhew. Elizabeth Hewitt is the Sunday editor for VTDigger. She grew up in central Vermont and holds a graduate degree in magazine journalism from New York University.

One reply on “Obama nominates Eric Miller as U.S. Attorney”