Alia Miles

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Alia has ten years' experience advising and representing business organizations and public entities on regulatory matters. The primary focus of her practice at McDowell Rackner & Gibson is representing electric utilities and other entities involved in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of power. She has represented clients in proceedings before the state public utility commissions in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington.

Legal Experience

Prior to joining McDowell Rackner & Gibson, Alia was an associate and Of Counsel with the Portland law firm of Ater Wynne LLP. At Ater Wynne, Alia's regulatory practice included both energy and telecommunications law clients, including investor-owned and publicly-owned utilities as well as energy development entities. Alia also has significant experience in both environmental law and federal Indian law, and she served as a Visiting Professor of Legal Writing at Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College for the 2007-2008 academic year. After law school, Alia clerked for the Honorable Rick T. Haselton at the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Representative Work

• Representing Golden Valley Electric Association, Inc. on tariff and other regulatory filings before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska
• Advising the Columbia River People’s Utility District on general regulatory compliance issues
• Advised Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians on various environmental aspects of Creekside Development project, including governmental agreements relating to water diversion and treatment
• Advised high tech companies Planar and FLIR Systems on various environmental compliance issues, including compliance with state and EU electronic waste laws.

Professional Activities

• Admitted to practice in Oregon
• Member of Oregon Women Lawyers
• Member of the Oregon State Bar Energy, Telecom & Utility Law Section, Indian Law Section, and Environmental and Natural Resource Section

Education

Alia graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 1992, where she received her BA in History cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She received her JD and Environmental Certificate from Lewis and Clark Law School in 1998. At Lewis and Clark, Alia served as Articles Editor of Environmental Law and was honored as a member of the Cornelius Honor Society, a recipient of the Bernard O’Rourke Award for Outstanding Paper on Natural Resources Topic, and a Dean’s Fellowship from 1995 to 1998.

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