Raymond Owens is a partner at Higgins & Owens, PLLC in Charlotte. In 1978 he started his law practice with Walker Palmer and Miller, P.A., and for the next thirty one years he practiced with Kennedy, Covington, Lobdell and Hickman and its successor, K&L Gates, LLP.

His civil practice has ranged from complex business litigation to First Amendment and defamation matters. Owens has published and spoken at a number of CLE events on a wide range of topics, including electronic discovery in litigation, dealing with the press, and dealing with difficult lawyers. Among other professional and community activities, Owens is a past chair of IOLTA and a former Board member of Legal Aid of North Carolina.

Although he continues to practice as a trial lawyer, he has mediated and served as an arbitrator in over 2500 civil cases in his career and is one of the original panel members of Intercede, a dispute resolution panel based in Charlotte.

• University of North Carolina, J.D., 1978 (Order of the Golden Fleece)(Law Review)
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., summa cum laude, History and German, 1975 (Phi Beta Kappa)

• Conservation Trust of North Carolina, Board of Directors (2012 - present)
• Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Board of Directors (2004 – present)
• Legal Aid of North Carolina, Board of Directors (2004 – 2012)
• IOLTA, Board of Directors, Chair (1999-2001) and Member (1996-2001)
• Mecklenburg Bar Foundation, Board of Directors (2004-2010)
• Arts & Science Council, Board of Directors, Executive Committee (2000-2002) and Member (1998-2004)

My Mediation hourly rate is $500 and there is a $100 administrative fee charge per party. There is also a 4-hour minimum charge for mediations and a cancellation fee of $2,000 for mediations that cancel 30 days or less of the scheduled date. I do charge my hourly rate for travel and mileage reimbursement.

My Arbitation hourly rate is $575. I do charge my hourly rate for travel as well as mileage reimbursement.