Monica Owens

SENIOR ATTORNEY
404-400-3350
[email protected]
  • OVERVIEW
  • EXPERIENCE
  • CONTRIBUTIONS
  • COMMUNITY
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Monica Owens is an experienced complex commercial litigation attorney. She has
worked closely with clients for more than two decades guiding them through the
intricacies of business litigation and developing effective pretrial, trial, appellate,
and post-judgment collection strategies. Monica advises and represents Fortune
500 companies, government agencies, banks, real estate owners, small
businesses, voting rights and faith-based entities, and professionals in a broad
range of matters before federal and state courts including class and collective
actions.

Monica is also a skilled labor and employment litigator and former judicial staff
attorney at Georgia’s busiest trial court, the Superior Court of Fulton County.
Having worked with several judges for many years, Monica understands the
importance of court procedures, precedent and preferences. Monica is skilled at
anticipating the needs of judges, familiar with what judges often want to know,
and attuned to the likelihood of rulings on particular issues based on historical
data.

Also a former judicial staff attorney at the Georgia Court of Appeals, Monica is
masterful at analysis, contributing long perspective strategy on cases including
being able to set the record at the trial court level for appeal, uncovering issues
that may be around the corner although not present in the moment, anticipating
the likelihood of success on appeal, and identifying key issues that need to be
brought forth to increase the chances for success on appeal.

Gifted in analysis, Monica is an effective researcher. She recently guided the
skillful use of declarations and depositions in a large voter rights case in federal
court. Monica’s exceptional business acumen and advocacy have yielded positive
results for her clients in nationwide business-related matters. Her varied experience includes recovering multi-million dollar judgments, as well as representing major corporations and class action litigation.
  • Obtained a defense judgment in favor of a commercial tenant against a landlord’s dispossessory action, preventing the issuance of a writ of possession and collection of miscalculated back rent.

  • Obtained a defense judgment in favor of a dentist against breach of contract and medical malpractice claims.

  • Obtained the grant of a discretionary appeal in the Georgia Court of Appeals to review an attorneys’ fees dispute.

  • Negotiated a favorable settlement that saved a defendant client at least $144,000.00 in a claim for attorneys’ fees.

  • Negotiated a favorable settlement allowing business owners to retain ownership of corporate assets in a lawsuit involving corporate dissolution and intellectual property claims.

  • Obtained pre-answer voluntary dismissals of all claims against a landlord in premises liability lawsuits. The landlord client was completely absolved of liability and avoided expenses associated with litigation.

  • Collected $1.25 million against a deceased debtor’s estate in a pre-judgment settlement.

  • Collected $1.65 million against debtors of a promissory note to a failed bank after aggressively pursuing post-judgment discovery.

  • Obtained a judgment modification in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, which resulted in a total award of $4.5 million in favor of the creditor client.

  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of a property owner defending against a quiet title action and challenge to a foreclosure sale. Also obtained a judgment for back rent and a writ of possession in the related dispossessory proceeding, which led to the holdover tenant’s eviction from the premises.

  • Obtained the eviction of tenants from a landlord’s commercial office building, after defending against the tenants’ multiple bankruptcy filings and court motions seeking to prevent the scheduled evictions.

  • Obtained a judgment in the approximate amount of $1.1 million in favor of a landlord against a defaulting tenant and a guarantor of a retail lease.

  • Obtained an order compelling pre-trial discovery and awarding attorneys’ fees in favor of a landlord defending against a tenant’s breach of contract lawsuit.

  • Obtained a favorable defense verdict for a pest control company following a jury trial addressing property claims for alleged termite damage, and successfully defended against the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial.

  • Obtained an involuntary dismissal with prejudice in favor of an apartment complex owner during the discovery phase of a tenant’s premises liability lawsuit.

  • Obtained voluntary dismissals in favor of a manufacturer defending against toxic tort claims in a class action.

  • Obtained a judgment in favor of a plaintiff asserting fraud and conversion claims; also obtained the dismissal of a related bankruptcy action filed by the defendant.

  • Obtained a judgment in favor of a plaintiff interior designer in a breach of contract action.

  • Successfully resolved more than 100 cases as lead counsel on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration in pretrial settlements, trials and hearings before the Department of Transportation, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Merit Systems Protection Board.
  • Legal Writing Seminar – Three Course Series (2016) Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys

  • Reviewing and Negotiating a Commercial Lease Agreement (April 29, 2015) Real Property Section, American Bar Association

  • Nuts and Bolts of Leases: Enforcing the Lease, Default, Remedies, Eviction and Dispute Resolution (February 24, 2015) Real Property Section, American Bar Association

  • Managing Problem Tenants (October 24, 2014) International Conference of Shopping Centers Law Conference

  • An Evaluation: Georgia’s Safe Carry Protection Act and Premises Liability Against Commercial Property Owners (September 25, 2014) Gate City Bar Association

  • Defining the Limits of a Condemnor’s Authority to Abandon Condemnation Proceedings (September 20, 2014) Law360

  • Appellate Strategies: 1) Requirements and Best Practices for Filing Briefs in the Georgia Appellate Courts and 2) Distinctions Between the Rules of the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court (August 17, 2013) Trial Masters Boot Camp, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys

  • Writing Effective Briefs and Motions in Litigation (June 26, 2013) Litigation Coalition, Gate City Bar Association

  • Effective Appellate Advocacy (April 2013) Bleckley Inn of Court

  • Appellate Advocacy Program (June 15, 2010), Chair and Moderator, Gate City Bar Association
  • Member, American Inns of Court (Bleckley Inn)

  • Former Board of Directors, American Bar Association, Court of Appeals Staff Attorneys (CASA) (2020-2021)

  • Former Member, Real Property and Trust & Estate Law Section,
    American Bar Association

  • Former Board of Directors Member, Atlanta Bar Association

  • Former Board of Directors Member, Treasurer, Chair of the Hall of Fame Inductee Selection Committee and Co-Chair of the Hall of Fame Gala, Gate City Bar Association

  • Member, Judicial and Public Office Academy Class of 2011, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys
                                                                                                                         
  • Past Member, International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

  • Former Hearing Officer, City of Atlanta Board of Taxicabs & Vehicles for Hire

  • Volunteer, United Way Volunteer Initiative Program

  • Volunteer, Everybody Wins! Literacy Program

  • Member, Literacy Volunteers of America, Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter
PRACTICE AREAS
Business & Commercial Litigation

Labor & Employment 

Class & Collective Actions

Discrimination & Harassment Claims
EDUCATION
Georgia State University
College of Law
J.D.

Spelman College
B.A.
BAR ADMISSIONS
Georgia