Areas of Experience & Expertise:
Arbitrator, Business / Corporations, Constitutional Law, Employment, Complex Business cases, Shareholder / Director Disputes, Construction Matters, Negligence, Negligence / Medical, Patents / Trademarks / Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Products Liability, Real Estate/Residential.
Raymond (Ray) E. Owens, Jr. is a partner at Higgins & Owens, PLLC in Charlotte. In 1978 he started his law practice with Walker Palmer and Miller, P.A., and for the next thirty one years he practiced with Kennedy, Covington, Lobdell and Hickman and its successor, K&L Gates, LLP. His civil practice has ranged from complex business litigation to First Amendment and defamation matters. Owens has published and spoken at a number of CLE events on a wide range of topics, including technology in discovery and how to handle difficult lawyers. Among other professional and community activities, Owens is a past chair of IOLTA and a former Board member of Legal Aid of North Carolina. Although he continues to practice as a trial lawyer, he has mediated and served as an arbitrator in over 1400 civil cases in his career and is one of the original panel members of Intercede, a dispute resolution panel based in Charlotte. He received a B.A degree summa cum laude from UNC-CH in 1975 and a J.D. from UNC-CH in 1978, where he was a member of the N.C. Law Review. Mr. Owens has spoken about alternate dispute resolution at many CLE sessions including for the N.C. Bar Association and the N.C. Business Court.
Education:
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University of North Carolina, J.D., 1978
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Order of the Golden Fleece
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NORTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW, Staff Member (1976-1978)
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., summa cum laude, History and German, 1975
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Phi Beta Kappa (1973-1975)
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North Carolina Honors Program (1971-1975)
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Experience:
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2012: Higgins & Owens, PLLC
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1982-2012: K&L Gates, LLP (formerly Kennedy, Covington, Lobdell & Hickman, LLP) (associate and partner)
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1978-1982: Walker Palmer & Miller, P.A. (associate)
Awards & Recognition:
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Rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Ratings1
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Listed in BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA’s Legal Elite for Business Litigation (multiple years)
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Listed in Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation (multiple years)
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Listed in Super Lawyers in Business Litigation (multiple years); Top 100 Lawyers in N.C. (2006); Top 25 Lawyers in Charlotte (2014); Benchmark Litigation (multiple years)
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THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER’s “Guardian of the Environment” (co-honoree; 2005)
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North Carolina Bar Association’s Large Law Firm Pro Bono Justice Award (co-winner; 2005)
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North Carolina Bar Association’s Pro Bono Justice Award (1999)
Selected Publications & Presentations:
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Speaker, “Mediation in Construction Cases,” presented by the North Carolina Bar Association (2014)
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Speaker, “Crisis Management and Dealing with the Press,” presented by Strategic Leadership Forum of the Carolinas (2012)
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Co-Presenter, “New Techniques in Civil Discovery,” presented by North Carolina Bar Association (2011)
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Speaker, “Renaissance of Professionalism,” presented by North Carolina Bar Foundation (2005)
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Speaker, “Dealing with the Difficult Lawyer or When is Kickboxing Appropriate for an Officer of the Court?” presented by North Carolina Bar Foundation (2003)
Selected Professional & Community Involvement:
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Conservation Trust of North Carolina, Board of Directors (2012 – present), President-Elect (2015)
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Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Board of Directors (2004 – present)
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Legal Aid of North Carolina, Board of Directors (2004 – 2012)
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IOLTA, Board of Directors, Chair (1999-2001) and Member (1996-2001)
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Mecklenburg Bar Foundation, Board of Directors (2004-2010)
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Arts & Science Council, Board of Directors, Executive Committee (2000-2002) and Member (1998-2004)
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