Cristen Gleeson was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where she was exposed to the great outdoors of the Northern Ontario wilderness. In addition to fighting forest fires, she was one of the most successful basketball players of her graduating year, leading her to play for the Queen’s University Varsity Women’s Basketball Team for several years during her undergraduate degree.
In her early twenties, Cristen lived and worked in developing countries on two global outreach projects in remote villages in Jamaica and Guatemala as a participant in the Canada World Youth international exchange program. She graduated with a degree in English Literature from Queen’s University in 1998 and obtained her Law Degree from Queen’s University in 2001. After articling with BC Hydro in Vancouver, she was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 2002.
Cristen joined Baker Newby in 2006, became a partner in 2010, and joined the management team in 2019. She was appointed King’s Counsel in 2023, an honour bestowed on only 2% of lawyers. Cristen was appointed Chair of the University of the Fraser Valley Board of Governors in August 2025, where she leads the board responsible for the management, administration, and control of the university. She is also Chair of the Fraser Valley Healthcare Foundation.
Her practice focuses on family law and personal injury law, and she is known for being extremely tough and passionate about her work. She has a commanding presence in the courtroom and does not shy away from difficult cases. Clients often comment that she is a real person who has their back and brings practical, tangible results in a timely fashion so they can move on with their lives with a fair resolution.
Cristen stays on the cutting edge of new developments in family law and works collaboratively with leading mediators and parenting coordinators in Vancouver to achieve prompt resolution for her clients. Her practice is centered in the Fraser Valley, but she receives direct referral work from former and current clients as far away as Dawson Creek and Vancouver. She has a winning track record in court and relishes obtaining real, prompt results for clients facing unfair, difficult, and complex personal injury and family disputes.
In the early stages of her career, she had the honor of working with Court of Appeal Judge Gail Dickson, who was then a practicing lawyer in the areas of plaintiff civil sexual assault, personal injury, and criminal defense. Cristen appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on a triple appeal involving civil sexual assault and abuses to children in foster care. She also worked and volunteered in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, working with women facing issues of drug addiction and assault, and served on the Board of the Pivot Legal Society.
She and her husband own a tree farm in beautiful Rosedale, BC, in the heart of the Fraser River delta. In her spare time, she enjoys hockey and soccer with her kids and is known for solo hiking the West Coast Trail and backpacking in Alaska and the Yukon. She loves to snowboard, run, and bike with her children and husband. Cristen welcomes inquiries in all areas of family law and personal injury.
