David B. Owens

Partner

Biography

David B. Owens is a partner at Loevy & Loevy.

Owens joined Loevy & Loevy in 2012, and his practice is national, representing clients from Washington and California, in Wisconsin and Illinois, and throughout the South. Owens is dedicated to zealous, client-centered advocacy on behalf of those seeking vindication for the violation of their civil rights and focuses on cases involving wrongful convictions, police shootings and other excessive force, false arrests, free speech rights, race discrimination, and other violations of the U.S. Constitution.

A proud Seattle native, Owens completed his undergraduate at the University of Washington. Owens later earned his J.D. and an M.A. in Philosophy from Stanford University in 2010. At Stanford Law, Owens was the Senior Articles Editor of the Stanford Law Review, a Member Editor of the Stanford Environmental Law Journal, received the Gerald Gunther Prize for Outstanding Performance in Federal Courts, earned Pro Bono distinction, and served as a fellow in the Levin Center for Public Interest. He was also a member of the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, where he worked on numerous cases at the United States Supreme Court, most notably representing a number of civil rights groups in banking regulation litigation and successfully representing an indigent criminal defendant in Flores-Figueroa v. United States, 556 U.S. 646 (2009), which avoided harsh application of a mandatory-minimum sentencing statute. During law school, Owens also worked for the ACLU of Washington Foundation; a nonprofit in Lagos, Nigeria institute Miranda-derived protections against coerced confessions; and a boutique firm in San Francisco specializing in environmental protection issues.

Owens clerked for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Honorable Myron H. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama in Montgomery, Alabama.

Owens is Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago, where he co-teaches in the school’s pro bono wrongful conviction clinic, The Exoneration Project. Owens is also dedicated to pro bono work. In addition to representing clients with the Exoneration Project, Owens serves as a member of the Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth in Illinois; represents juveniles who were given life sentences but are now entitled to new sentencing hearings under Miller v. Alabama; and representing claimants in proceedings before the Illinois Torture Inquiry Commission. At the University of Chicago, Owens has also collaborated with other clinics, including trying a case on behalf of a criminal defendant with the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic. Other pro bono work includes writing amicus briefs in district and appellate courts in civil rights and criminal cases.

Bar Admissions

  • California, 2011
  • Illinois, 2013
  • Washington, 2018
  • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th, 7th, and 8th Circuits
  • Various federal District Courts, including the Northern District of Illinois, the Northern District of Indiana, the Central District of California, the Northern District of California, the Southern District of Texas, the Northern District of Ohio, and the Southern District of Ohio

Stanford Law School, Stanford, California
• J.D. – 2010

Stanford University, Stanford, California
• M.A. – 2010
• Philosophy

Loyola Marymount University
• M.A. – 2006
• Elementary Education

University of Washington
• B.A. – 2004
• Political Science

University of Washington
• B.A. – 2004
• Philosophy

Clerkships & Past Employment

• Law Clerk, Hon. Diane P. Wood, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

• Law Clerk, Hon. Myron H. Thompson, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama

Publications

• From Substance to Shadows: An Essay on Salazar v. Buono and Establishment Clause Remedies, 20 B.U. PUB. INT. L. J. 289 , 2011

• Fourth Amendment Remedial Equilibration: A Comment on Herring v. United States and Pearson V. Callahan, 62 STAN. L. REV. 563, 2010

Our Impact

Loevy + Loevy has won more multi-million dollar verdicts than perhaps any other law firm in the country over the past decade. Our willingness to take hard cases to trial, and win them, has yielded a nationally recognized reputation for success in the courtroom.

Read the latest public reporting and press releases about Loevy + Loevy’s clients, our public interest litigation, and our civil rights impact.

We take on the nation’s most difficult public interest cases, advocating in and outside the courtroom to secure justice for our clients and to hold officials, governments, and corporations accountable.

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