SACRAMENTO — State bar leaders have hired an Orange County employment litigator as the organization’s new general counsel, the board of trustees announced Friday.

San Clemente solo Thomas Miller, 61, will assume the role of the 248,000-member bar’s top legal adviser, replacing Starr Babcock, who retired at the end of January after three years in the post. Miller specializes in employment law, litigation counseling and wage-and-hour class actions, according to information provided by the bar.