Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcell Owens.
Marcell, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was raised in the Macedonia section of Linden, Texas. It’s a small rural area of about 2,000 people in Northeast Texas. There aren’t many business professionals, mainly just hard-working blue-collar laborers; my father did the same. He, with the assistance of relatives, raised my twin brother and me as a single parent. Our most valuable lessons usually revolved around working hard and sacrificing for the things we desired the most. He was born in the 1940s so he also provided us with the historical context behind understanding who we were as black men and how to navigate the world once we left for college.
One day at Stephen F. Austin State University, one of my frat brothers and myself discussed becoming lawyers. We immediately signed up for the LSAT and took the test. I enjoyed watching shows like In the Heat of the Night and was inspired to become a lawyer as a kid. Witnessing virtually everyone I know struggle through the legal system, I always had a desire to step in and mitigate that need. I eventually enrolled in Thurgood Marshall School of Law at TSU and started interning at Abraham & Watkins, which is one of the nation’s more prominent personal injury law firms. Here, I learned how to handle a variety of complex personal injury cases. It’s where I found my passion in the law.
Once I graduated from law school, I took a job at a firm in West Texas which focused on civil litigation. I was able to hone skills such as drafting petitions, prosecuting and defending depositions, and conducting oral hearings. I eventually moved back to Houston and continued to work in civil litigation at Maverick Ray & Associates. While I have done work in almost every area of law, civil litigation is my baby. Through law, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to represent people from all walks of life, ranging from the indigent to professional athletes and movie stars. My efforts have resulted in millions of dollars in settlements. I attribute my success to a wonderful support system, my TSU education, and working every day with some of the brightest minds in the legal industry.
Has it been a smooth road?
Everything hasn’t always been peachy. I was blessed with a great family on both sides, but I did experience problems that are no different than what many people who come from my walk of life experience daily. My mom spent a considerable portion of my youth in prison as she served prison sentences on two separate occasions. In the moment, I did not understand how it affected me. I may have even suppressed it, but through growth and maturity I’ve learned to accept it and cope with it. It’s not something that’s normal or easy to do. But everyone has a story. The key is forgiving, finding resolve, and moving on.
One of the most heartbreaking professional situations I had to endure was finding a job after graduation from law school. I must have submitted more than a thousand applications. I worked hard through school, obtained what I thought was significant experience, and graduated with honors only to be rejected time after time after time. It was a slap in the face because I knew I was qualified for most entry-level positions. But the gross reality of the declining legal market and being a minority graduating from an HBCU that’s not a top law school slapped me right in the face. I even contemplated “moving back home” and having to face the scrutiny associated with a failed dream. But finally a place I interned with during law school reached out to me and offered me a position. I wasn’t excited to move 10 hours away from everything and everyone I knew, but it was an opportunity to gain some experience and find my way back to Houston. It provided just that and more.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Maverick Ray & Associates story. Tell us more about the business.
Maverick Ray & Associates started out as a criminal defense firm with one lawyer. We now have five lawyers. Through continuous requests for civil assistance, firm founder Maverick Ray began installing civil attorneys to meet these requests. That’s where I came along. We have several hundreds of criminal and civil clients that keep us busy. We are most proud of the relationships that we maintain with our clients. Their trust and gratitude with our hard work has enabled us to continuously grow and expand. The unique thing about our firm is that we are all relatively young. Our oldest attorney is 33 years of age, so we are more understanding to many of the issues our clients deal with. I think we are probably more personable and approachable.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I anticipate that there will be some decline in the personal injury area of law. The world is becoming safer and reducing human error in many industries by replacing humans with machines and computers. All-in-all, people and corporations will always be negligent and I will be there to hold them accountable.
Contact Info:
- Address: 310 Main St., Suite 300
Houston, Texas 77002 - Website: maverickraylaw.com/services/
- Phone: 903.215.9042
- Instagram: cellatlaw
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