TELISA T. OWENS

TeLisa T. Owens is an appellate attorney with Sommers Schwartz, P.C. in Southfield.  Ms. Owens focuses her practice on employment, commercial and insurance litigation and has litigated matters in state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Previously, she worked at the Michigan Court of Appeals as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Kurtis T. Wilder and worked as a research attorney in the Court’s Prehearing Division.  Ms. Owens currently serves as WBA treasurer for the 2007-2008 bar year.  She has also served on the board of directors and as WBA secretary.  Since 2004, she has tutored for the Association of Black Judges, D. Augustus Straker Bar, and the Wolverine Bar Association Minority Bar Passage Program.  In June 2007, Ms. Owens was honored as WBA member of the year.
In addition to her activities with the WBA, she was elected in April 2007 to a three-year term on the Downtown Detroit Citizens’ District Council and is active in the State Bar, currently serving on the Libraries, Legal Research & Legal Publications Committee and the Technology Committee.  Ms. Owens is also contributing writer to the Michigan Bar Journal.  She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and the Michigan Association for Justice, where she is a member of the Amicus Committee.  In 2007, she was nominated to serve a three-year term on the 36th District Court Case Evaluator Selection Committee.  Ms. Owens often gives community lectures on behalf of Legal Aid, the largest provider of free legal services in Michigan.
Ms. Owens received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law in Washington D.C., where she served as class vice-president and was named to Who’s Who in American Law School Students.  She received her B.A. from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA where she majored in International Culture and Commerce with a specialization in International Business.