Leanne Monsma focuses her practice on administrative, labour, human rights, and privacy law. She assists clients with a wide range of legal matters, including statutory interpretation, procedural fairness, policy drafting and implementation, grievance arbitration, collective bargaining, workplace investigations, and managing access to information requests.

Leanne works extensively with professional regulators and post-secondary institutions. She advises regulators on governance, registration, unauthorized practice, misconduct, and discipline matters. She also represents universities and colleges on issues related to student discipline, sexual and scholarly misconduct, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and human rights accommodations. She has appeared before courts and tribunals in applications for judicial review, professional regulatory hearings, labour arbitrations, human rights hearings, and privacy commissioner hearings. In professional regulatory proceedings, she has acted both in prosecutorial roles and as independent legal counsel to decision-makers.

Leanne takes pride in engaging with her clients and understanding the challenges they face. She enjoys delivering training sessions that allow her to explore clients’ concerns in depth and provide practical solutions. Her experience conducting investigations and reviews gives her a deep appreciation for the sensitive nature of these processes, and she applies trauma-informed approaches to help individuals navigate them with confidence.

After completing her law degree, Leanne clerked at the Alberta Court of King’s Bench before joining Field Law’s Professional Regulatory and Labour and Employment groups. She later pursued a Master of Laws (LLM) at University College London, focusing on the intersection of human rights and privacy law. She also gained in-house experience as legal counsel at the University of British Columbia, where she deepened her understanding of the unique environment in which universities operate and how external counsel can best support them.

Leanne is licensed to practice in Alberta and British Columbia. While based in Edmonton, she maintains a presence in Vancouver and continues to provide legal services in BC, particularly to professional regulators and post-secondary institutions.

She believes that while legal issues are serious, there is always room for genuine connection and even humor. She values building strong, personal relationships with her clients—because sometimes, a shared laugh is the best way to navigate a challenging situation.

Value to Clients

"My primary goal is always to make my client's life a little easier. I will identify the issues, offer potential solutions, get things organized, track deadlines, keep things moving along, and so on. I will do all of these things so that my client doesn't have to. When I was working in house, I learned a lot about what a client needs and wants from their external legal counsel. I think it's possible, at times, to be too focused on the law. My advice is always based on the law, but it's also always based on who my client is and what is actually practical in the circumstances."

Outside the Office

Leanne's favourite thing to do is hike. She especially likes doing multi-day hikes and she is on a bit of a mission to determine if there are any mountain ranges in the world that are better than the Rockies. She also enjoys running and cycling, especially to important destinations (such as coffee shops, bakeries, and breweries).