Alex Owings is a partner in Willkie's 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 contract claims, business torts, class actions, antitrust, fraud, fiduciary duties, employment, 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 has been named to The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch list.
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 under Delaware corporate law.
- Defeated class certification representing Fortune 500 company in federal case involving ERISA claims and contractual theories.
- Obtained dismissal on appeal of federal securities fraud and state law fraud and fiduciary breach claims against former officers and directors following oral argument in the Seventh Circuit.
- Achieved favorable resolution defending Fortune 500 financial institution in ERISA class action.
- Obtained summary judgment on illegal dividend and aiding and abetting claims in federal court.
- 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