News Release

Charlotte, NC Lawyer C. Melissa Owen Installed as Secretary of Nation’s Criminal Defense Bar

Washington, DC (Aug. 15, 2022) – C. Melissa “Missy” Owen was sworn in as Secretary of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the Association’s annual meeting in Palm Beach, FL on August 13. 

C. Melissa Owen is a founding partner of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen. Owen’s practice areas include state and federal criminal defense, with a focus on white collar matters, financial crime, sex offense prosecutions, and Title IX representation. Owen has served NACDL in numerous capacities, currently as Co-Chair of the Women in Criminal Defense Committee, Co-Chair of the Zealous Defense of Sex Crimes CLE, a program Vice Chair in the CLE Institute, and a member of the Audit, Bylaws, Governance, Membership, and Title IX Committees. She co-authored NACDL’s 2021 report, Abortion in America: How Legislative Overreach Is Turning Reproductive Rights Into Criminal Wrongs. Owen is also active on numerous bar associations and community groups, including service on the Board of Governors of North Carolina Attorneys for Justice and the Ethics Committee at the North Carolina State Bar, which publishes Advisory Ethics Opinions for North Carolina attorneys. She received her undergraduate degree from Miami University in Ohio and her J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh. 

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Contacts

Kate Holden, NACDL Public Affairs and Communications Associate, (202) 465-7624 or kholden@nacdl.org

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.

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