News Post

Michelle R. Owens of Montgomery Named State Bar's Director of Finance; First Person To Hold That Title

Montgomery, Ala., April 1, 2014 – Alabama State Bar Executive Director Keith B. Norman has announced the hiring of Michelle R. Owens, Montgomery, as the bar’s first director of finance.

State Bar President Anthony A. Joseph of Birmingham (Maynard Cooper & Gale PC) said, “The director of finance is not ‘just a numbers person’ – Michelle’s accounting and law degrees make her ideally suited to support our management team in developing a financial strategy, monitoring our non-profit business plan and setting relevant financial goals and objectives balanced with regulatory compliance.”

The state bar’s budget is approximately $6.4 million dollars, all of it derived from dues. No tax dollars are used to support the programs and activities of the bar.

Owens is a magna cum laude graduate of Auburn University at Montgomery (1994) where she received her degree in accounting. She earned her law degree from Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law (2000) where she graduated cum laude.

From 2007-14 she was a senior auditor employed by Kenmore and Company LLC, where she specialized in multi-family housing audits to include compliance with federal regulations. Her previous experience was as an accounts examiner with the state Department of Examiners of Public Accounts where she was responsible for conducting financial and compliance audits of large state agencies.

Her professional memberships include the state bar, Alabama Society of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

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