Millimet, Joseph A. (1914-2006)
Dates
- Existence: 1914 - 2006
Biography
Joseph Allen Millimet grew up in New Jersey, where he attended East Orange High School before matriculating at Dartmouth College. At Dartmouth, he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, served on The Junto's Board of Governors, was Editorial Chairman of "The Dartmouth," and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated in 1939 with distinction in Sociology, winning the Barge Gold Medal for his speech "The Education of a College Radical" and the Edwin F. Jones History Prize. He went on to earn a JD from Yale Law School before moving to Concord, New Hampshire to practice law. During World War II, he was first an attorney-investigator with the Naval Affairs Investigatory Committee of the US House of Representatives before becoming an attorney with the War Problems Division of the Federal Communications Commission. He then served in the Coast Guard from 1942 to 1945, earning the rank of lieutenant.
After the war's end, Millimet returned to New Hampshire, becoming a partner at Devine and Millimet in 1947 (later Devine, Millimet, Stahl, and Branch), where he became senior officer in 1969. The firm became one of the most prominent in New Hampshire, and in 1993 a survey of New Hampshire lawyers ranked Millimet as #1 on a list of the "most brilliant legal minds" in the state. Before his retirement in 1994, Millimet played a leading role in the state's legal and political spheres. Among other activities, he chaired three commissions to revise the state's constitution; served as legislative counsel to Governor John King during the 1963 session of the General Court; led the New Hampshire Bar Association in 1962-1963; and served as counsel to the state Democratic Party committee for 15 years. He was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of New Hampshire in 1992.