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Firm Practice Areas

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois Supreme Court, 1983
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1983
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 1990
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, 1996
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 1999
  • Trial Bar, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2001
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2002
  • U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 2005

Education

  • DePaul University College of Law, J.D., 1983
  • Marquette University, B.A., 1980

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kevin G. Owens
Shareholder
Phone (312) 984-0270
             

Fax (312) 372-9818


E-Mail owensk@jbltd.com

Vcard

Kevin Owens is co-chair of Johnson & Bell's Product Liability practice group and concentrates his practice in the defense and trial of product liability, complex/catastrophic litigation and general negligence cases and the litigation of commercial disputes. He is a frequent lecturer and panelist for continuing legal education programs, and has spoken on issues including the defense perspective on the trial of slip and fall cases, the legal issues confronting private security officers, hotel-oriented claims and litigation, and medical device litigation. His success as a trial attorney has been recognized by his peers, who have accorded him an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest available rating for professional abilities and ethics.

Mr. Owens has been a member of the American, Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations, and served on the CBA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee from 1987 to 1992. He has also been a member of the Defense Research Institute and the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, and served as Chairman of the IDC’s 1999 Fall Seminar in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a member of the ALFA International Product Liability Practice Group’s Steering Committee, presently serving as its Chairman. In 2008, he served as the Program Chair for the ALFA International Product Liability Practice Group Seminar. He resides with his family in LaGrange Park, Illinois, where he has served as President of the St. Francis Xavier Parish school board, a director of La Grange Park Little League Baseball, and as President of the Nazareth Academy High School Father’s Club, organized to raise funds to provide scholarships and tuition assistance to deserving students.

For more information on Mr. Owens, please click here.

Mr. Owens has authored numerous publications in the areas of product liability and civil litigation.  His published works include:

  1. “Application of Statutes of Repose and Limitation for Improvements to Real Property to Product Liability Cases,” IDC Quarterly, 1992.
  2. “Plaintiff’s Assumption of Risk in a Product Liability Case Acts as Contributory Fault,” IDC Quarterly, 1993.
  3. “Historical Precedent vs. Logic: The Further Erosion of the Moorman Doctrine,” IDC Quarterly, 1993.
  4. “Can a Product be an Improvement to Real Property?”, For The Defense, (Product Liability Annual) October, 1993.
  5. “Aggravation of a Pre-Existing Injury or Condition,” ISBA Tort Trends Newsletter, December, 1993.
  6.  “Product Liability - RIP or Is There Still Life Left in Old Suvada - What the Defense Lawyer Can Expect,” IDC Fall Conference, 1995 (with William V. Johnson).
  7. “Landowner’s Duty to a Trespasser Found in a Place of Danger,” IDC Quarterly, 1995.
  8. He is also co-author of the two-volume practice guide, Illinois Pretrial Practice, James Publishing, Inc., 2002.
  9. "Product Liability Prevention Guide," Co-author of practice guide published by the Packaging Machine Manufacturers Institute, July, 2008.
  10. "Beyond the Horizon...A new Dawn for Global Product Liability Claims" ALFA International Product Liability Practice Group Seminar (Program Chair), November 12-14, 2008.

Among the speeches and lectures presented by Mr. Owens are:

  1. “Demonstration of a Slip and Fall Case-Presentation at Trial: The Defendant’s Perspective,” Continuing Legal Education Program for the Chicago Bar Association, December 7, 1992.
  2. “Illinois Tort Law Update,” Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel Fall Seminar, September 10, 1993.
  3. “Minimizing Damages for Aggravation of a Pre-Existing Injury,” Illinois State Bar Association Law Ed Series Seminar, November 11, 1993.
  4. “Breast Implant Litigation: The Defense Perspective,” The St. Paul/University Hospital Consortium Seminar, March 23, 1994.
  5. “Minimizing a Plaintiff’s Claims for Disability and Suffering,” Illinois State Bar Association Law Ed Series Seminar, April 26, 1995.
  6. “Final Preparation for Trial,” IICLE Seminar, October 12, 1995.
  7. “Defending the Non-Traditional Asbestos Defendant,” ALFA International – International Client Seminar, March, 2005.
  8. "If It Ain’t Broke, Do I Still Have To Fix It? A Brief Examination of the Standards By Which U.S. Products May Be Judged,” ALFA International – International Client Seminar, March 8 – 10, 2007.
  9. “Documented Risk Assessment in  the Global Marketplace – Defending the Process of Making Your Products Safe,” Packaging Machine Manufacturers Institute Safety & Technology Conference, July 10 – 11, 2007.
  10. “Documented Risk Assessment in the Global Marketplace – Increasing Safety Without Compromising Productivity,” Rockwell Automation Fair, November, 2007.
  11. “Product Liability Law and the Litigation Process,” Packaging Machine Manufacturers Institute Safety & Technology Conference, July 16 – 17, 2008.
  12. "Preparing for and Conducting a Successful International Recall," National Electrical Manufacturers Association Product Safety & Liability Conference, Memphis, TN, September 30, 2008.
  13. "The Company Engineer as Trial Witness," Association of Equipment Manufacturers Product Safety and Compliance and Liability Seminar, Pittsburgh, PA, April 30, 2009.
  14. "Product Liability Law and Practice," Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers Safety Conference, Washington, D.C., October 14, 2009.
  15. "Recall Litigation - Defending the Product Liability Case Where the Product Has Been Recalled,"  ExpertRECALL - Stericycle Product Safety and Recall Seminar, January 21, 2010.

Reported decisions in which Mr. Owens has served as lead or co-trial and appellate counsel include:

  1. Deere & Co. v. Ohio Gear, 462 F.3d 701 (7th Cir. 2006).
  2. Suzik v. Sea-Land Corp., 89 F.3d 345 (7th Cir. 1996).
  3. Diehl v. H.J. Heinz Co., 901 F.2d 73  (7th Cir. 1990).
  4. Matthews v. Beloit Corp., 807 F. Supp. 1289 (W.D. Mich. 1992).
  5. Piper v. Yamaha Corp. of America, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4011; 123 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P10,375.
  6. Commercial Coin Laundry Sys. v. Loon Invs., LLC, 375 Ill. App. 3d 26, 871 N.E.2d 898, (1st Dist. 2007).
  7. Elliott v. Williams, 347 Ill. App. 3d 109; 807 N.E.2d 506; 282 Ill. Dec. 882 (1st Dist. 2004).
  8. Payne v. Mroz, 259 Ill. App. 3d 399; 631 N.E.2d 337; 197 Ill. Dec. 334 (1st Dist. 1994).
  9. Gillis Associated Industries, Inc. v. Cari-All, Inc., 206 Ill. App. 3d 184; 564 N.E.2d 881; 151 Ill. Dec. 426 (1st Dist. 1990).
  10. Wischer v. Mitsubishi Heavy Indus. Am., Inc., 2005 WI 26, 279 Wis.2d 4, 694 N.W.2d 320 (2005).
  11. Wischer v. Mitsubishi Heavy Indus. Am., Inc., 267 Wis. 2d 638, 673 N.W.2d 303 (2003).

Media

  1. Injured Worker's Product Liability Suit Barred By Repose Statute, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, November 23, 1992.
  2. John W. Bell and Kevin G. Owens National Law Journal, $94 Million Crane-Collapse Award Erased, October 2003.