Janice Barbara Payne

She provides advice and service to employee and employer clients in all employment-related matters, in both the public service and the private sector. Janice represents her clients before administrative tribunals and the courts, and has also offered her services as a mediator/arbitrator to parties and their counsel.

She has served as lead counsel in a number of employment-related and other class actions. Under her leadership, the firm has been appointed as representative counsel for large groups of non-unionized employees in insolvency matters, including Nortel, Canwest and others. Janice represented Canada’s Inuit in the Residential Schools settlement negotiations and in the proceedings before the Courts across Canada to certify the class action and approve the settlement.

Janice was the first female lawyer hired at Nelligan Law. She maintained that progressive lead and has been instrumental in significantly increasing the presence of women in the firm. She cites this as one of her major achievements.

Janice’s work outside of the office is just as important to her as her professional accomplishments. She has been heavily involved in community work associated with music and theatre. She is a former member of the Board of Directors and past President of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society , a former member of the Board of the National Youth Orchestra and is also active in Ottawa’s theatre scene, participating regularly in the GCTC’s Lawyer Play. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the GCTC.

For some years, Janice has been participating in initiatives to raise awareness of mental illness. She is a founding member of Women for Mental Health , a program of the Royal Ottawa Foundation. She served on the Board of Governors of the Ottawa Community Foundation for six years from 2014 to 2019. These activities allow Janice to give back to her community, and to contribute to causes which are important to her.