Orlando attorney Dawn Millner reached a unique milestone in her career recently when Delta Airlines notified her she had flown a million miles on the airline.
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“Frankly, it’s probably a lot more than a million, but that’s with other airlines,” Millner said. “Flying is not fun or glamorous, but it is required for this line of work.”
Millner, a corporate defense lawyer, flies routinely for work to take depositions. She loves to fly for fun to places like Paris and Rio de Janiero, but most of the work trips are to U.S. cities. Other favorite places include Copenhagen and South Africa.
“The most recent trip was to Kentucky, and I had to drive through the mountains in snow,” Millner said with a laugh.
Millner is the chair of Greenberg Traurig’s litigation practice in Orlando. She handles complex litigation like employment law and product liability. An example is defending tobacco companies in Florida’s widespread tobacco litigation.
Millner began her career in 1989, when litigation was hot because of a downturn in the economy. She was a summer associate at Rumberger Kirk Caldwell, already a long-time law firm in Central Florida. She began doing research on a massive case where DuPont was being sued over use of benlate fungicides, which were suspected of killing plants in Florida nurseries. DuPont ended up paying out $750 million in benlate cases, but its legal defense in courts dragged on for years. And it helped launch Millner’s career.
Since then Millner’s clientele includes a wide variety of companies ranging from tobacco giants to pro-wrestling organizations. Rules of litigation often require that she travel to the place where the litigant lives for depositions.
She said business travel is not fun, but she has learned a lot and met a lot of fascinating people. After the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, of course, travel changed a lot.
“These days planes are always full and travel is more demanding. There was a time when I would arrive at the airport 30 minutes before a flight, but no more. Getting there early is important. It also helps when people know you are a frequent flyer,” Millner said. “Airlines offer more travel perks than ever now.”
She works on planes more than ever, not that wi-fi is a common feature in the air.
Delta provided her with a free rollerbag suitcase to mark the million miles.
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