Justine Olimene      she / her

Of-Counsel Attorney

✤ Multi-lingual, with roots in Uganda and Canada

✤ Impressive track record in both domestic and international legal arenas

✤ Expert in corporate social responsibility, regulatory compliance and anti-corruption

✤ Wife, mom and fierce advocate for social and economic justice

It is Justine’s passion to assist with and witness the flourishing of small enterprises by leveraging her diverse background that brought Justine to Rational Unicorn's team. Her legal expertise, international insight, devotion to upholding justice, and passion all inform and inspire how she provides legal services. Justine’s story is one of overcoming struggle but she’s used it to inform and inspire her work. 

Justine arrived in British Columbia, Canada from Uganda in 2006. When she was younger, a civil war kept Justine, her father and her sister in exile for over three years, separated from her mother, who believed her and her siblings to be dead. After the war, Justine’s father took his five children and settled in another city, while her mother remarried. Once she finished high school, she enrolled in a two-year program to obtain an advanced certificate of education. Her literature teacher talked about corruption, about standing up for people who could not speak for themselves, and about the law and what lawyers could do for their country and its citizens. At fifteen years-old, Justine decided she would become a lawyer. But a legal education in Uganda back then was well beyond her reach.

Justine began working for KPMG as a human resource coordinator and enrolled in Makerere University Business School, attaining a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management in 2003. However, she never abandoned her dream. In 2006, Justine was invited to come to Canada to assist with the care of her nephews. Justine completed her caregiving stint in Canada, then began her legal career in 2008, working as a paralegal in a family law office over a span of 7 years. Justine was admitted at the University of Saskatchewan, College of Law in 2011, with her supervising attorney’s encouragement that whatever she believed, she could do, with hard work. In the first year of law school, Justine was voted the most impressive mooter in first year moot-court. During law school, Justine ran legal clinics, helping pro-se clients navigate issues relating to landlord/tenant law, criminal law, and family law.  Justine completed her Juris Doctor law in 2014.

In 2015, Justine moved to Washington State to join her husband, where she currently resides with her two sons, one of whom is neurodivergent. Justine went a step further in her legal dream and completed her Master’s in Law specializing in Sustainable International Development in 2015 at the University of Washington, School of Law. During her academic tenure, she delved deep into regulatory compliance, corporate social responsibility, environmental law, and sustainable growth. Her international development practicum enabled her to not only hone her research and drafting skills, but to better comprehend the critical intersections between law, human rights, and global challenges.

Throughout her career, Justine has showcased her versatility by excelling in a range of legal domains. She started her own law firm, Olimene Law Group, PLLC, in 2021 as a Managing Attorney in the fields of Family Law, Immigration, and Dependencies. Her tenure there stands as a testament to her dedication to providing legal representation and advocacy for diverse clients. She has exhibited a keen aptitude for handling the most intricate aspects of litigation, from research and writing to pretrial motions, negotiation, and trial representation.

Before that, she worked as a Public Defender for the King County Department of Defense, for over six years. Notably, Justine played a pivotal role at the King County Department of Public Defense, leaving an indelible mark with her feature in the 2021 Annual Report for an impressive landmark win of a complex case. As a Public Defender, she had rotations in Involuntary Commitment Court, Misdemeanors and Family Defense Unit, where she navigated the nuances of criminal court, dependencies, and more, always advocating for clients who faced mental health challenges, substance abuse, language barriers, and other obstacles. Her leadership and collaborative spirit were evident in her ability to effectively lead teams of investigators, mitigation specialists, and paralegals.

Furthermore, Justine demonstrated her capacity for insightful analysis during her tenure at Perkins Coie LLP, where she contributed as a Discovery Attorney in regulatory matters. Her work involved meticulous document review and coding, ensuring accuracy and precision in complex legal processes.

Beyond her legal achievements, Justine extends her influence into the realm of social justice and equity. She has played integral roles in gender equity investigations and have actively participated in community organizations aimed at fostering cultural awareness and integration. Her fluency in multiple languages reflects her commitment to bridging gaps and promoting inclusivity.

In her free time, Justine enjoys traveling, watching tv shows and movies, reading a good thriller/spy novel (The Bourne Trilogy being her favorite) and going on walks with her family.