Colleen Bauman
Partner
- Location:
Ottawa
- Phone:
613-482-2463
- Fax:
613-235-3041
- Email:
Biography
A strong defender of the view that a messy desk is a sign of creative genius, Colleen Bauman enjoys grappling with legal questions that don’t have an easy answer. Clients and colleagues look to Colleen when facing complex or novel constitutional, labour, or human rights issues. In her down to earth style, Colleen guides them with thoughtful advice that is both practical and tactical.
Colleen’s clients include unions, professional associations, employees, other lawyers and even judges. She is a persuasive advocate, appearing in Ontario and Federal courts on appeals and applications for judicial review, where she takes complicated legal principles and simplifies them into an eloquent argument about why her client’s rights should prevail.
No stranger to labour arbitration, Colleen enjoys working with unions, grievors and individual clients to build a case or resolve conflicts through negotiated settlements. When not litigating, she represents clients in collective bargaining or interest arbitration, working to improve salaries, benefits, pensions and key protections in the workplace.
Colleen knows the Supreme Court of Canada better than most. She started her law career as a clerk to Justice Rosalie Abella, and has returned as counsel many times since. Along with her own appellate work, she leads the firm’s Supreme Court agency practice, advising lawyers on all aspects and stages of an appeal. She is the Ottawa Regional Coordinator for the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, which provides advocacy advice to lawyers appearing before the Supreme Court. She is also a member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Federal Courts Bench and Bar Liaison Committee.
Colleen is recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading practitioner in appellate practice and in labour and employment law. She was also named by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year 2025 for her appellate practice.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Colleen worked as an exhibit planner in museums. That’s where she can still be found on rainy Saturday afternoons, exploring with her kids.
Notable Cases
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