Roger Owen (lawyer)


Roger Owen was an Irish lawyer and Crown official. He is notable as being the first Serjeant-at-law.
His date of appointment to the office of Serjeant was somewhere between 1261 and 1266. The title Serjeant-at-law was not then in use: the English term was King's Serjeant, while Roger himself used the Latin title of "serviens". In a letter to King Edward I of England in 1275 he described his work as being to "prosecute and defend the King's pleas in Ireland".
In this letter Roger complains that the substantial fees promised to him had never been paid, and that if he had been legal advisor to an Irish magnate rather than the Crown he would have been far better rewarded. This complaint is somewhat misleading since we know that he acted for private clients as well. In particular he had a retainer of 40 shillings a year from the Chapter of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin to act for them in both secular and spiritual matters: this is evidence that he was qualified in canon law.
He died in 1280, while still in office.