Employment Lawyer
Owen J. Nicholson is an associate at Bow River Law LLP practicing employment law, human rights, and labour law.
Owen grew up on a farm outside Leduc, not far from where Alberta’s oil industry began. Before law school he worked in Alberta’s energy and construction sectors as a helicopter powerline technician, erecting high-voltage transmission infrastructure across Alberta and British Columbia, coordinating equipment fleets across the oilpatch, and supervising a crew on the Rogers Place arena build in Edmonton. He has been on the tools and answered to supervisors on union and non-union job sites alike. He understands the employment relationship from the ground up.
Owen is one of the only employment lawyers in Alberta who is professionally bilingual. A product of Alberta’s francophone community, he earned a Political Science degree from Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta and a law degree from the University of Ottawa’s Programme de common law en français. He practices in English or French with equal fluency and writes a regular legal column for Le Franco, Alberta’s only French-language newspaper.
Owen has represented clients across the full spectrum of Alberta workplace law, from senior executives navigating high-stakes terminations to tradespeople and remote workers asserting their basic rights. He has represented employees at every stage, from negotiation through to court action, including wrongful and constructive dismissal to human rights complaints, harassment, discrimination, disability, duty to accommodate, and workplace investigations. Owen has also advised employers on terminations, employment contracts, and workplace investigations.
During law school Owen advocated for workers before the Social Security Tribunal of Canada’s Employment Insurance Commission. Since being called to the bar, he has appeared before the Alberta Court of Justice, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta and the Alberta Human Rights Commission and assisted with matters before the Alberta Court of Appeal. He has also contributed to Supreme Court of Canada proceedings on three separate occasions and served as lead counsel in a complex arbitration matter.
Owen was a rookie all-star with the Beaumont Chiefs in the Capital Junior Hockey League and multiple MVP awards at the Queen’s Law Cup. He knows how to win a face-off and brings that same competitive drive to every file he works on. He looks forward to helping you.
Owen Nicholson
Legal Assistant: Lianne
Lianne’s Phone: 587.391.1726
Education
- Juris Doctor, Programme de common law en français, University of Ottawa (2020)
- B.A. Political Science, Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta (2016)
Professional & Community Involvement
- Member, Law Society of Alberta
- Member, Canadian Bar Association (Alberta)
- Member, Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Alberta (AJEFA)
- Legal Columnist, Le Franco
- Lexis + AI Legal Editor, LexisNexis Risk (2024)
Affiliations
Legal Blog Articles by Owen Nicholson
Book an Appointment Today
Quick Contact
Fields marked with an * are required