Julie Owen represents individuals in civil rights cases against police officers and government entities for police misconduct. She handles criminal cases as well. She also represents employees in cases against employers who break the law, whether it be through racial or sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or violation of other laws relevant to employment. She also sues nursing homes on behalf of their residents and their families for abuse and neglect.

Julie has always been interested in civil rights litigation and is passionate about serving her clients. She takes her role as an advocate very seriously. She constantly is alert to what actions she can take to benefit her clients while always maintaining the highest standards of integrity. She is creative in her approaches to advocacy and proving cases. Julie has a dynamic personality and is able to change her style in response to the needs of her clients and their lawsuits. She is cooperative and friendly with defense attorneys when it would benefit her client and tough and aggressive when this approach is necessary. Julie thoroughly enjoys getting to know her clients and developing their case in conjunction with them. She listens closely to her clients and prides herself on making legal concepts and the legal process understandable to non-lawyers.

Because of her experience and natural strengths in persuasive speaking and analysis, Julie welcomes the opportunity to take cases to trial. Indeed, in her relatively short career, Julie has already achieved notable success. Less than a year into her legal career, she tried a complex contract case on her own at her prior firm and won a judgment in favor of her client. Also, just one year into her legal career, she won a personal injury lawsuit in conservative DuPage County, obtaining a verdict well in excess of the arbitration award that the defendant had rejected. Despite this enthusiasm for taking a case to trial, Julie understands when settlement may be the best resolution of a case. Her thorough investigation and research allows her to negotiate skillfully and obtain favorable settlements for her clients at all stages of litigation. She has obtained sizeable settlement awards at the earliest stages of litigation, as well at pre-trial conferences. 

Julie joined Ed Fox & Associates after working as a plaintiff’s attorney at another law firm, where she handled personal injury, medical malpractice, nursing home, and workers’ compensation cases. Julie graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law, with the distinction of Order of the Coif (top 10% of her class). She also attended the University of Illinois for her undergraduate degree in Political Science. While in law school, Julie won “Best Overall” in her school’s civil rights moot court competition (Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition). In that competition, she wrote a brief and orally argued about Title VII and race-conscious employment decisions. She advanced to the regional competition and won “Best Petitioner Brief,” for her brief, which focused on Section 1983 litigation, or constitutional rights litigation.

Julie is interested in making law accessible to non-lawyers and for that reason she participated in “Street Law” in law school, a program through which she taught legal concepts to non-lawyer members of the community. She currently volunteers with Lawyers in the Classroom through the Constitutional rights Foundation Chicago to expose school age children in at-risk communities to legal careers, and she serves as a mentor to teenagers through the Chicago Bar Association.