Owen Sworn In As President-elect of NACDL

C. Melissa “Missy” Owen was sworn in as President-elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers at the Association’s annual meeting on July 12. 

Owen is a founding partner of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen in Charlotte. Her practice areas include state and federal criminal defense, with a focus on white collar matters, financial crime, sex offense prosecutions and Title IX representation. 

She has served NACDL in numerous capacities, currently as co-Ccair of the Women in Criminal Defense Committee and the Taskforce on the Policing and Overcriminalization of Pregnancy; and as a member of the Audit, Budget, Governance, Membership, Title IX, Strategic Litigation Capacity Building, and Decarceration Committees. She co-authored NACDL’s 2021 report, “Abortion in America: How Legislative Overreach Is Turning Reproductive Rights Into Criminal Wrongs.” She is a recipient of NACDL’s Champion of Justice Award. 

Owen is a former member of the NCAJ Board of Governors.

She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors for Federal Defenders of Western North Carolina, and as a member of the Ethics Committee at the North Carolina State Bar, which publishes Advisory Ethics Opinions for North Carolina attorneys. She is currently a fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and Litigation Counsel of America.