When Mauri Miller arrived at Platinum Dermatology Partners in March 2017, the business had four offices and 15 providers in Texas. Fifteen transactions later, Platinum has 33 offices and 83 providers in multiple states.
Miller, who is 31, oversees Platinum’s M&A and has been integrally involved in each deal.
“We are experiencing organic growth and growth from our aggressive M&A strategy,” he says. “All of these new practices have not had the ability to call an in-house lawyer before and ask questions. So now, I am advising our management team and providers on the various complexities of our U.S. healthcare system, which has meant I needed to know these issues, too.”
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are pleased to have Miller as a finalist for the Rookie of the Year Award, which is a new honor that is part of the 2018 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards.
“In his two years at Platinum, Mauri has simultaneously reduced exposure to legal risk while simplifying and improving efficiency in general contract review and approval,” says Stewart Law Group partner Keron Wright, who nominated Miller for the award.
“Mauri also has overseen the new add-on transactions and reduced average legal spend on such transactions by nearly 75 percent,” Wright says. “Mauri also implemented a document and contract management system to ensure compliance with important terms and dates.”
Born in Elkhart, Ind., which is about 30 minutes east of Notre Dame University, Miller had a dream of becoming a lawyer-sports agent.
“The idea was to become Jerry Maguire,” he says. “But in law school, I realized that being a sports agent was not at all what I thought it was.”
Miller received his bachelor’s degree in business and finance from Indiana University in 2009. During his junior year of college, he studied in Barcelona.
“It really opened my eyes and made me realize that there was a world outside of Indiana,” he says.
Miller knew he wanted to go to law school, but he spent a year between college and law school teaching math and English to children in the Dominican Republic as part of the non-profit DREAM Project.
“It was an extraordinary experience and made me a better person and I think a better lawyer and leader,” he says.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2013, he spent two years practicing corporate securities law at Faegre Baker Daniels in Indianapolis.
In June 2015, Miller and his family moved to Dallas, where he spent two years in the M&A and private equity practice – nine months at Winstead and 14 months at McGuireWoods, which handled several of Platinum’s early deals.
Looking to reduce its outside legal costs, Platinum officials decided to hire Miller as its associate general counsel.
“Mauri has been instrumental in all of our acquisitive and organic growth initiatives,” says Platinum Vice President Michael Pennington. “While he certainly carried a large load on the legal side, he is critical from a business perspective and helps us execute on strategies in a way few lawyers can.
“Mauri is excellent not only with legal acumen but having a strategic mind to find solutions, rather than merely abide by the law,” Pennington says.
Miller has led 14 M&A deals for Platinum during the past two years.
“We had the opportunity to buy the largest dermatology practice in Arizona, and opening business in a new state has its own hurdles and requirements,” he says. “It was satisfying to help lead a deal from the signing of the letter of intent through the closing.”
Miller says one of the biggest challenges he faces is simply his age.
“I work with physicians who have been practicing medicine for 15 or 20 years and they believe that gray hair equals wisdom,” he says. “So far, I have only a few gray hair, but it has required me to be more prepared with detailed explanations when I talk with our clients.”