Overview
Shanika A. Owens focuses her practice on helping clients navigate mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and real estate law. Her experience includes a wide range of transactions in a variety of industries. Shanika, along with her colleagues, recently represented the seller in an acquisition worth over $400 million. Shanika and the team received the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Detroit Chapter’s M&A Deal of the Year award in recognition of their legal expertise in navigating the transaction.
Shanika also assists clients with navigating the landscape of local municipalities, particularly the City of Detroit. She has helped clients with stormwater issues as well as regulatory matters related to environmental compliance.
Ms. Owens is a Shareholder based in Butzel’s Detroit office. Before joining the firm, she served as a legislative assistant to the Detroit City Council where she advised policymakers on issues including economic development, budgeting, and matters leading up to the Detroit bankruptcy. Shanika interned with the Honorable Avern Cohn of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
More recently, Shanika has been named to The Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch, Corporate Law and Real Estate Law, 2023. She was named to the list of Michigan Lawyers Weekly Up & Coming Lawyers in 2021. She has also been named a Michigan Chronicle 40 under 40 Honoree.
Shanika is a member of the State Bar of Michigan (SBM) Business Law and Young Lawyers sections. She is elected to the SBM Representative Assembly and also serves on The Institute of Continuing Legal Education’s (ICLE) Business Law Advisory Board.
Given her deep community roots and passion for service, Shanika serves on the Board of Directors of Avalon Healing Center in Detroit, a non-profit organization that provides compassionate and trauma-informed care to survivors of sexual assault. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing environmental justice for marginalized populations in Michigan.
Primary Practice Areas
Credentials
Education
Michigan State University, B.S.
Wayne State University Law School, J.D., cum laude
Admissions
- Michigan
Awards & Recognitions
Awards & Recognitions
Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s 2024 “Influential Women of Law”
The Best Lawyers in America - Ones to Watch, Corporate Law and Real Estate Law, 2023-2025
Michigan Lawyers Weekly Up & Coming Lawyers
Michigan Chronicle 40 under 40 (2013)
Michigan Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2024