Alex Owings is a senior associate in the Litigation Department. He is a litigator and trial lawyer with significant experience representing businesses and individuals in complex and high-stakes matters in federal and state courts across the country. Alex focuses on complex commercial disputes and appeals and has substantive experience in a variety of legal areas, including breach of contract and business torts, class actions, antitrust, fraud, fiduciary duties, and ERISA.
Alex has successfully taken and defended depositions, presented oral arguments, drafted dispositive motions and appellate briefs, managed fact and expert discovery, and been a key member of winning trial teams. In recognition of his work in commercial litigation, Alex was named to the 2021 and 2022 editions of The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch.
Alex maintains an active pro bono practice and has helped a client win a grant of asylum under the United States immigration laws. He also has represented clients seeking executive clemency in Illinois and New York, and was part of a team that obtained a $6 million settlement on behalf of a Staten Island boy who vanished from the custody of New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services.
Alex received his J.D. with honors, from Emory University School of Law, where he served as an editor of the Emory Law Journal and completed externships with the corporate litigation department of The Coca-Cola Company and Justice David E. Nahmias of the Supreme Court of Georgia. He received a B.A., magna cum laude with honors in Philosophy, from Vanderbilt University.
Experience
Prior to joining Willkie, Alex was an associate in the New York office of another major law firm.
Alex has advised on the following selected significant matters*:
- Defending former officers and directors in federal court against allegations of fiduciary duty breaches and illegal dividends.
- Defending financial institution against ERISA class action based on recordkeeping fees and proprietary funds in a defined contribution plan.
- Representing former officers and directors in Seventh Circuit appeal involving claims of securities fraud and fiduciary duty breaches.
- Achieved favorable settlement representing a global manufacturer in commercial arbitration involving a contract dispute with a business partner.
- Obtained reversal on appeal of a district court’s dismissal of RICO and fraud claims following oral argument in the Second Circuit.
- Won a trial victory against a global consulting firm in an eight-day trial addressing bankruptcy disclosure practices.
- Secured dismissal of all six antitrust claims brought by a wholesaler of an international brewing company, including claims for per se antitrust violations, monopolization, attempted monopolization, and unlawful exclusive dealing.
- Successfully defended an international consulting firm against a petition to enforce an arbitration subpoena in state court.
- Achieved a favorable settlement representing a market-disrupting technology company in nationwide competition and trade secret litigation against incumbent rivals.
- Defended an amateur athletic association in class action litigation challenging its eligibility rules.
*Alex advised on some of these matters prior to joining Willkie.
Credentials
Education
Emory University School of Law, J.D. (with honors), 2015 Vanderbilt University, B.A. (magna cum laude with honors in Philosophy), 2012