Beaman finds balance between family and work

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Colleen Beaman, Habush Habush & Rottier SC

Law degree received from: University of Wisconsin Law School, 1981

Colleen Beaman remembers when her daughter realized not all lawyers are women.

Twenty-two years ago, Beaman took her 4 year old into the office on a Saturday. The girl saw a male colleague and said, “A boy lawyer?” Beaman said.

“She only knew one lawyer, and it was her mom,” Beaman said with a laugh.

That was in the Milwaukee office of Habush Habush & Rottier SC, where Beaman was one of the firm’s first female attorneys.

“For 30 years, Colleen has been the firm’s go-to attorney for litigating the damages aspects of our biggest and most complicated cases,” said Tim Trecek, a shareholder with the firm. “Colleen’s proficiency in her attention to detail while, at the same time, remaining focused on the key issues of each case, have been instrumental in ensuring full compensation for hundreds of clients with intricate and convoluted damages issues.”

Beaman was a new lawyer when Bob Habush asked her to join the firm in 1982. At the time, she was very pregnant.

Eight weeks after becoming a first-time mother, Beaman reported for work. Within six years, she had three more children.

Yet she continued to work full time in a practice that requires extensive travel, juggling the demands of work and family. Making that even more challenging was her husband’s unpredictable schedule as an emergency room physician.

“I think my firm set a fine example by helping to make it happen,” Beaman said. “I made sacrifices. But sometimes the phrase, ‘It takes a village’ really does apply. I keep coming back to that when I think back on those years.”

Beaman, a nurse for three years before applying to law school, said that experience was excellent preparation for personal injury. She could’ve worked on either side, but is “110 percent” committed to plaintiffs.

“It’s a reflection of my background — having your voice in the system, having your day in court and having companies and individuals be responsible for their actions,” Beaman said. “It was just a natural fit for me.”