Colleen Baime is a partner in the Chicago office and a highly regarded litigator licensed in both Illinois and California.
She focuses her practice on complex litigation matters defending clients against a broad array of liabilities, including contract disputes, product liability, civil conspiracy, fraud, misrepresentation, securities litigation, environmental claims, and general commercial litigation.
Practice Focus
An experienced trial lawyer, Colleen has personally tried over a dozen cases to verdict, guiding major corporations through all aspects of high-stakes disputes. She has also served as the supervising trial counsel responsible for developing, directing and approving litigation strategy and the presentation of evidence in over 30 trials.
In addition, Colleen counsels clients in litigation avoidance, risk management, and resolution strategies. She routinely negotiates the favorable resolution of matters using data analytics to drive innovative and advantageous outcomes that reduce transaction costs and avoid the expenditure of trial resources.
Beyond her litigation work, Colleen has also briefed and argued multiple cases to the Illinois appellate courts and briefed appeals to the California courts of appeal.
While in law school, Colleen served as an editor of the Stanford Law & Policy Review and was a member of the Stanford Law Review.
Admissions
Illinois~United States
California~United States
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
• Consumer Goods & Retail
• Corporate and M&A Disputes
• Dispute Resolution
• Energy, Mining & Infrastructure
• Environmental Disputes
• Industrials, Manufacturing & Transportation
• Product Liability & Product Recall
• Public Law & Regulatory Disputes
• Securities Disputes
REPRESENTATIVE
LEGAL MATTERS
Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Colleen handled the following matters:
Secured a defense verdict following a multi-week product liability trial in Los Angeles, California on behalf of a client whose product was alleged to have caused the death of two plaintiffs.
Supervised the successful defense of the first fully remote multi-week Zoom jury trial to go to verdict in the United States in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Directed the trial team throughout the seven week trial setting litigation strategy, developing defense themes and approving the presentation of evidence. Devised a system and protocol for effectively, seamlessly and persuasively presenting arguments and evidence to the judge and jury over the remote platform.
Represented multiple former officers of a California public utility in shareholder derivative litigation arising out of 2017 and 2018 wildfires in Northern California.
Successfully argued appeals to the Fourth District Appellate Court of Illinois regarding the elements necessary to prove civil conspiracy (thereby cutting off a significant docket of pending cases).
Worked with opposing counsel who historically pursued upwards of 50 civil actions per year against her client to develop a framework for resolution of the claims outside the tort system driving down defense and indemnity costs, streamlining claims analysis, capping the number of claims permitted, and providing the client financial certainty concerning the alleged liability.
FIRM PROFILE
Baker McKenzie brings insight and foresight to clients across more than 70 global offices. Our team of 13,000 people, including over 6,500 lawyers and tax professionals, works alongside our clients to drive growth that is both sustainable – and inclusive.
The global business community is more interconnected than ever before. Opportunities and risks spill across different markets, sectors and areas of law, so a connected perspective is essential in delivering business objectives while mitigating risk. Our integrated client solutions provide seamless advice, underpinned by deep practice and sector expertise, as well as first-rate local market knowledge.
We are different from other law firms in the way we think, work and behave. Global in our outlook and curious by nature, we are often the first to recognize changes in the market and respond with new and better ways to serve clients.
Today the global business community is more interconnected than ever before, and clients need us to work across traditional practice, sector and market lines to mitigate risk and maximize opportunity. Our integrated solutions, underpinned by deep expertise and innovative technology, represent a new frontier for legal advice.
For 10 consecutive years we have been named the world's strongest law firm brand by Acritas. This is because we don't stand still — striving to be the best in all we do and thinking bigger, faster and further on behalf of clients. We know the value of our people in sustaining this success and so we're committed to offering the platform to nurture this talent.
