Judge James R. Miller was born in Sandy Spring, Maryland on June 15, 1931. He graduated from Wesleyan College in 1953 and received an LL.B. from Georgetown Law School in 1955.

Following graduation, Judge Miller entered private practice at his family’s firm Miller & Miller before he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, which he served in from 1963 to 1967.  In 1970, Judge Miller was appointed to the US District Court of the District of Maryland by President Richard Nixon.  Judge Miller was thirty-nine years old at the time, making him the youngest judge to be appointed in Maryland since 1799. After sixteen years of service, Judge Miller retired in 1986.

Judge Miller was chairman of the delegation from Montgomery County in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1963 to 1967, and he served as president of the Montgomery County Bar Association from 1969 to 1970.