Our People

Tim Owen

Of Counsel, Los Angeles

310.981.2008
towen@lcwlegal.com

Timothy Owen is a senior litigator with over twenty-five years of experience trying cases to juries in California and New York. 

Before joining the Los Angeles office of LCW, Tim represented publicly-held companies as lead trial counsel in complex business litigation and high-exposure product liability cases.  Tim's trial experience includes defense of professional negligence and insurance bad faith claims, as well as unfair business practices suits.

Tim's most recent trials include successfully defending a large law enforcement agency against union claims for special pay affecting hundreds of supervisors, and defeating a fired employee's discrimination and retaliation claims against a municipality.

Tim has taught continuing education for much of his career, sharing his invaluable courtroom experiences with how juries view cases, and providing practical advice on avoiding common mistakes that lead to liability exposure. Tim's teaching experience will further enhance the firm's extensive management training.

Representative Matters

Litigation

  • Summary Judgement Win On USERRA Claim (2011) - Represented the City on a discrimination suit. Plaintiff alleged the City discriminated against him by violating the federal military leave law, USERRA. Summary judgment granted in favor of City.  Plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment denied. The court correctly determined that USERRA does not entitle an employee while on leave to automatically receive promotions or pay increases which are generally based on merit.  The court distinguished job advancement based solely on seniority as opposed to merit.  With pure seniority the employee receives promotion and pay increases "automatically" while on leave.
  • Alice Robin v. City of Monrovia (2010) - Plaintiff Robin sued the City based on several claims of retaliation for filing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges.  Specifically Plaintiff claimed that a written reprimand, Golden Handshake offer, and ultimate lay-off of her position to half-time constituted retaliation.  The jury disagreed with Plaintiff and ruled in favor of the City.
  • Professional Peace Officers of Los Angeles v. County of Los Angeles (2010) - Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Code, supervisors must earn at least one dollar more per hour than their subordinates under certain criteria.  At the direction of the County's Chief Executive Office, the Sheriff's' Department issued specific eligibility guidelines that clarified existing practice and criteria contained in the County Code and County Interpretive Manual.  PPOA filed suit for back pay, injunctive and declaratory relief alleging that the guidelines included additional criteria than was required to earn the bonus pay and were an unreasonable interpretation of the County Code.  The court found that the guidelines were a reasonable interpretation of and were consistent with the County Code.  Judge Brazile denied relief on all causes of action and entered costs in favor of the County.
  • Robinson v. City of Lynwood (2008) - Successfully defended municipality at trial in race discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by a former employee. 

Legal Expertise

Education

  • JD, Vermont Law School
  • BA, Colgate University, New York
To Contact Liebert Cassidy Whitmore:
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