Chris Gowen Adjunct Professor WCL Adjunct Faculty
- Bio
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Professor Gowen joined the faculty of American University Washington College of Law as an adjunct in May 2010. He teaches Legal Ethics, Law Practice Management and the Externship Seminar. He has received two teaching awards during his tenure. In 2012, Professor Gowen was nominated by the WCL student body as the Adjunct Professor of the Year and in 2013, he was nominated by the faculty and was awarded The American University Adjunct Professor of the Year.
Professor Gowen is in private practice at the law firm of Gowen Rhoades Winograd and Silva PLLC, where he focuses on Consumer Protection, Family Law, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury cases.
Professor Gowen was appointed to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsivity in February 2016.
In Private Practice, Professor Gowen has earned several notable decisions for his clients and has litigated hundreds of cases in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia and New York. His work on the Chevron / Ecuador litigation on behalf of the lawyers sued by Chevron has received national and international notoriety. Links to the Press clippings from the case can be accessed below.
Professor Gowen takes a great deal of pride in the service provided to our WCL students. He constantly reminds his students that he works for them and his duty to them goes beyond the classroom. In particular, Professor Gowen has dedicated hundreds of hours toward helping his students find employment and has had tremendous success making connections for his students.
Prior to entering private practice, Professor Gowen served as the Senior Staff Attorney for the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section. He contributed to several amicus curiae briefs filed before the United States Supreme Court and drafted numerous policy recommendations on behalf of the ABA.
Professor Gowen worked for Former President William Jefferson Clinton for five years as a traveling aide and a fact checker for President Clinton’s memoir, My Life. He worked on several different initiatives with former President Clinton including: The Clinton Global Initiative, The Clinton Health Access Initiative, The Clinton Foundation, The Clinton Library and the Presidential Campaign to elect then-Senator Hillary Clinton. He directed the operations for then-Senator Clinton's campaign in Iowa for the 2008 Democratic caucus and served as a traveling aide throughout the primary campaign.
He has also consulted for Senators John Kerry and John Edwards and Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf.
Professor Gowen is a graduate of Villanova University and the University of Miami School of Law. He began his legal career as a public defender under Bennett Brummer and Carlos Martinez in Miami-Dade County, Florida. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis and golf and sailing with his family.
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