About Patricia Anne
Patricia Anne Millett built her legal foundation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned a B.A. in 1985. She went on to study at the University of Virginia School of Law and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Her academic path set the stage for a career centered on appellate work and federal litigation.
Early in her career Millett served as a law clerk to Judge Thomas Tang on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1990. She spent time in private practice at Miller & Chevalier in 1988 and later joined the Department of Justice in 1992. In 1996 she moved to the Office of the Solicitor General, where she worked as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, handling briefing and oral argument on behalf of the United States in the appellate courts.
After her government service she returned to private practice and rose to partnership. In 2007 she became a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. That move placed her at a firm known for large-scale appellate litigation and complex federal matters. Her practice has included representation in multiple federal appeals and proceedings before circuit courts.
Millett is admitted to practice in a wide range of jurisdictions. Her admissions include California and the District of Columbia, and she is admitted to argue before several U.S. Courts of Appeals, among them the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits. She holds active membership in the District of Columbia Bar.
Colleagues and opponents describe her as a lawyer who favors careful preparation and concise briefing. Courtroom work and appellate argument figure prominently in her portfolio. Over the years she has handled appeals that raise questions of federal law, administrative procedure and complex commercial disputes. She has been a frequent presence in appellate filings and oral arguments, where clarity and attention to precedent guide her approach.
Millett’s trajectory from federal clerkship to the Solicitor General’s office and then to partnership at a national firm maps a steady movement toward appellate practice. She continues to work on appellate matters and federal appeals, maintaining a practice concentrated on appellate litigation.
