A member of Sutherland’s Litigation Practice Group, Bob Owen has more than 35 years of experience in New York commercial litigation. A nationally recognized adviser to financial services, energy and technology companies, Bob is known for creative and efficient dispute resolution. He has handled hundreds of cases before federal and state courts and arbitration panels throughout the United States.
For more than 20 years, Bob led the commercial litigation boutique firm of Owen & Davis PC, which he co-founded. The 12-lawyer firm represented Fortune 500 clients in their complex litigation matters in the New York area and around the country.
Bob is widely recognized for his leadership in e-discovery, having been an early adopter of litigation support technology at Owen & Davis and then founding the E-Discovery and Information Management Practice at another national law firm. Currently, he is a member of the editorial advisory board of
Law Technology News (American Law Media publication), a participant in the Managing Information and Records in the Electronic Age working group of The Sedona Conference, and a member of the Educational Advisory Cabinet for the Masters Conference. He is ranked as a Band 1
leading individual in Litigation: E-Discovery in both the
Chambers Global and the
Chambers USA directories, and is described by the publication as “a highly-regarded e-discovery specialist who wins market approval as
‘a stellar guy with a great reputation.’”
A frequent speaker on jury trial techniques, Bob has served as a faculty member at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s renowned National Session in Boulder, Colorado, and with the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association.
Bob is also a licensed private pilot.
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Robert’s extensive representative experience includes:
- Serving as lead jury trial counsel for a global telecom company in a high-exposure breach of contract case. The case was settled on favorable terms on the eve of trial.
- Defending a prominent consumer goods manufacturer in more than 50 statewide consumer fraud class actions before an MDL court. An extremely favorable zero-dollar settlement was negotiated.
- Obtaining dismissal of an alleged $195 million 10b-5 claim brought against a German national in the Southern District of New York.
- Serving as e-discovery counsel for two global corporations.
- Successfully defending directors and officers in numerous securities class actions and shareholder derivative actions.
- Successfully defending an acquiring company in a short-form merger appraisal action and class action.
- Successfully prosecuting an administrative petition for review of a USEPA action against a prominent sugar manufacturer.
- Successfully defending a computer manufacturer facing warranty claims.
- Achieving summary judgment for a global energy company in a highly contentious terminated distributor action.
- Successfully defending a major computer company in a terminated dealer action.
COURT ADMISSIONS
- U.S. District Court - Southern District of New York, 1974
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Second Circuit, 1974
- U.S. District Court - Eastern District of New York, 1976
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1978
- U.S. Tax Court, 1980
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Fifth Circuit, 1987
- U.S. District Court - Western District of Texas, 1987
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Sixth Circuit, 1991
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Seventh Circuit, 1991
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Eighth Circuit, 1991
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Eleventh Circuit, 1991
- U.S. District Court - Western District of New York, 1992
- U.S. District Court - Northern District of New York, 2000
- U.S. District Court - District of Nebraska, 2002
- U.S. District Court - Northern District of Oklahoma, 2002
- U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Texas, 2011
PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS
- Recipient, BTI Client Service All-Star, one of 318 client-nominated honorees nationally (2011)
- Recognized by Chambers Global: World’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of privacy and data security: e-discovery, Band 1 (2010-2012)
- Recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of privacy and data security: e-discovery, Band 1 (2009-2012)
- Recognized by The Legal 500 United States in the areas of technology, data protection and privacy (2010)
- Named to The Best Lawyers in America in the area of commercial litigation (2005-2013)
- Selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers® (2006 to present)
- Selected as a “Leading Lawyer,” competition and antitrust, Guide to World’s Leading Lawyers (2007)
- Recognized as a “Top Commercial Litigation Lawyer,” Corporate Counsel magazine (2006)
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- President, Electronic Discovery Institute (EDI)
- Board Member, Advisory Board of the Georgetown Law Advanced eDiscovery Institute
- Member, New York City Bar Association
- Member, Federal Bar Council (Second Circuit)
- Member, Working Group on Managing Information and Records in the Electronic Age, The Sedona Conference
- Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Law Technology News, American Law Media publication (2010 to present)
- Trustee, St. Christopher’s - Jennie Clarkson Child Care Services, Inc. (1985-1997)
- Member, Dobbs Ferry (N.Y.) Board of Architectural Review (1984-1991)
- President, Colonial Springs Club, Inc. (1984-1989)
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- Speaker and Moderator, The Masters Conference, Washington, DC (October 8, 2012)
- Speaker, “Electronic Discovery in Litigation – Who Bears the Burden?” Litigation Practice Group Teleforum, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (October 4, 2012)
- Panelist, “Implementing the Legal Hold,” 2012 Conference on Preservation Excellence, Portland, OR (September 27, 2012)
- Speaker, Federal Judicial Center E-Discovery Training for Federal Judges, Baltimore, MD (September 19, 2012)
- Panelist, “What happened in the case law this year, and why did it happen so fast?” Sixth Annual National Institute on E-Discovery, American Bar Association, New York, NY (May 18, 2012)
- Panelist, “Four Perspectives on Preservation and Proportionality,” New York, NY (May 17, 2012)
- Speaker, International Legal Technology Association Webinar: “The Great Preservation Debate,” (March 28, 2012)
- Keynote Speaker, “The Preservation Games: How We Got Here and What You can Do,” The Masters Series, Houston, TX (March 20, 2012)
- Moderator and Panelist, “A Momentous Moment in Fed. R. Civ. P. History: Will the Preservation Beast Be Tamed?" Houston, Texas (February 23, 2012)
- Speaker, Bloomberg BNA Webinar: "The Great Preservation Debate: Where It Is Today and Where It Might Go" (February 7, 2012)
- Speaker, Podcast: E-discovery Preservation: Reset to Neutral, Law Technology Now (December 5, 2011)
- Moderator and Panelist, “The Preservation Challenge and Some Proposed Solutions,” Lawyers for Civil Justice 2011 Membership Meeting (December 2, 2011)
- Moderator and Speaker, "Corporate Approaches to Electronic Information Management: How to Manage Data and Prepare for Litigation in an Increasingly Mobile World," Georgetown Advanced eDiscovery Institute (November 18, 2011)
- Speaker, “Cloud Computing,” West LegalEdcenter’s Electronic Discovery and Records Retention Conference, New York, New York (November 10, 2011)
- Speaker, “Ethical Issues in E-Discovery,” Houston ACC Best Practices Committee Meeting (November 2, 2011)
- Participant, The Sedona Conference Working Group 1: Electronic Document Retention and Production, Austin, Texas (October 6-7, 2011)
- Conference Chairman, The Masters Conference: “Security, Privacy and Compliance Within Corporate Litigation," Washington, D.C. (October 3-5, 2011)
- Invited Speaker, Mini-conference on Preservation and Sanctions, U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, Dallas, Texas (September 9, 2011)
- Moderator and Speaker, “Preservation: Costs, Burdens, and Solutions,” The eDiscovery Institute Annual Conference, Amelia Island, Florida (September 7, 2011)
- Chairman, The Masters Series Conference, and Panelist, “Preservation Rules Update,” Houston, Texas (August 16, 2011)
- Presenter, “The Social Network: Strategies for Coping with Social Media in Litigation,” Houston ACC Best Practices Committee Meeting (August 11, 2011)
- Keynote Speaker, The Masters Series Conference, New York, New York (July 19, 2011)
- Speaker and Mock Oral Argument Presenter, “Deciding Choice of Law and Reliance/Causation/Deception Standards in Multi-state, Consumer Fraud Class Actions After CAFA,” ABA National Institute on Class Actions, Chicago, Illinois
(October 14, 2010)
- Moderator, Executive Counsel Institute Colloquium on E-Discovery for the Corporate Market, New York, New York (July 12, 2010)
- Speaker, “Emerging Trends in U.S. Securities & Sanctions Enforcement: Implications for Non-U.S. Enterprises,” Tokyo, Japan (June 16, 2010)
- Conference co-chair and panelist, The Sedona Conference on “The Future of Civil Litigation,” Phoenix (April 8-9, 2010)
- Speaker and Panelist, “The Future of E-discovery,” Legal Tech, New York, New York (February 2, 2010)
- Speaker, “Sixth Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings,” Bloomberg Headquarters, New York, New York (October 15, 2009)
- Guest Lecturer, E-Discovery, Columbia Law School (Fall 2008 and 2009)
- Keynote Speaker, “Viewing E-Discovery Through the Corporate Veil,” The Masters Conference, Washington, D.C. (October 16, 2008)
- Guest speaker, “Lawyer2Lawyer: New Federal Evidence Rule 502,” iTunes podcast (October 16, 2008)
- Speaker and Panelist, “Getting Your Arms Around Your Data: Data Maps, Backup Tapes and Other Inaccessible ESI,” Bloomberg Litigation Seminar: Hot Topics in E-Discovery, Bloomberg Headquarters, New York, New York (June 5, 2008)
- Panelist, “The Sedona Conference’s Voices From the Desert Program on the Recent Qualcomm E-Discovery Sanctions Order and Its Ramifications,” Web Seminar (January 29, 2008)
- Speaker and Panelist, “Fourth Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings,” 21 Club, New York, New York (November 6, 2007)
- Speaker and Panelist, “Discovery Technology: Best Practices Under the New Rules,” Practising Law Institute’s Conference Electronic Discovery and Retention Guidance for Corporate Counsel, New York, New York (October 31, 2007)
- Speaker, “E-Discovery 2007: Cautionary Tales and Best Practices,” Anadarko Petroleum, Houston, Texas (October 11, 2007)
- Speaker and Panelist, “What’s in Your Closet? Discovery of Disaster Recovery, Legacy and Other ‘Inaccessible’ Data,” DRI Audio Seminar (June 26, 2007)
- Speaker, “Getting Ahead of the Game: Planning for E-Discovery Before Litigation Happens,” Ernst & Young, New York, New York (May 31, 2007)
PUBLICATIONS
- Co-author, “SEC's Proposed ‘Conflict’ Resolution,” Law360 (July 10, 2012)
- Author, “Reset to Neutral,” Law Technology News (December 1, 2011)
- Author, “Restoring the Balance: An Expanded Proposal Concerning Preservation,” BNA Digital Discovery & e-Evidence (November 2011) and United States Law Week (November 29, 2011)
- Author, “Restoring the Balance: An Expanded Proposal Concerning Preservation,” Letter to U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules (October 24, 2011)
- Co-author, “The Plausibility of Pleadings After Twombly and Iqbal,” 11 The Sedona Conference Journal (Fall 2010)
- Co-author, “First Steps for Identifying and Preserving Potentially Relevant Electronic Information Checklist,” Practical Law Company, Inc. (January 2010)
- Author, “Management of E-Data and E-Discovery” chapter in Litigation Management, Law Journal Press (2010)
- Co-author, “FRE 502, One Year Later,” New York Law Journal (October 5, 2009)
- Co-author, “Outlier or Harbinger? Recent Case Invents New Preservation and Information Management Duties for Corporations,” Digital Discovery & E-Evidence Report (June 2009)
- Co-author, “Electronic Disclosure, A Comparison of United States and English Approaches: The Digicel Case,” Global Forensics (January 2009)
- Contributing author, “Annual Review of Intellectual Property Law Developments 2006-2008,” American Bar Association (2009)
- Co-author, “Escaping the Quicksand: Can Congress Save Corporate Litigation From Getting Buried in Terabytes?” Corporate Counsel magazine (October 2008)
- Co-author, “Rough Riders: Navigating the Unpaved Road of Electronic Discovery,” Internet Law & Business (March 2007)
