White House counsel, 2004-present
A longtime confidant of President Bush dating to the then governor-elect's transition team in 1994, Miers has never served on the bench.
Having spent most of her career in private practice, she lacks the conservative judicial record many on the right were hoping for, but that may mean a smoother confirmation process in the Senate. She has been praised as a trailblazer for women in law, becoming the first woman hired in 1972 at the Dallas firm where she eventually became co-managing partner. She was the first woman elected president of the Dallas Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas. In 1989, Miers was elected to the Dallas City Council for two years. From 1995 to 2000, Miers served as chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission and has since worked in the White House, most recently helping the president choose John G. Roberts as the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
She graduated with bachelor's and law degrees in 1967 and 1970 from Southern Methodist University, where first lady Laura Bush received her bachelor's degree in 1968 and Vice President Cheney served as a trustee. –Silla Brush