Barbara Romaine retired from the Court of King's Bench of Alberta on July 3, 2025, following nearly 28 years of service as a justice of that Court.

Since retiring from the bench, she has launched a private arbitration practice, with a focus on commercial and insolvency related disputes. She brings to this work many years of judicial experience and a deep understanding of complex financial and legal matters. She is available for appointments across Canada and internationally.

Prior to her judicial appointment, she was a partner at McCarthy Tétrault's Calgary office specializing in national and international project development financing and securities law. Ms Romaine holds a B.A. (1971) and LL.B (1974) from the University of Alberta. She was called to the Alberta bar in 1975 and served as a Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta from 1990 to 1997, including as President in 1997.

While in private practice, Ms Romaine acted for both corporations and underwriters with respect to public offerings of securities, acted as counsel for independent directors and was involved with the financing and development of cogeneration facilities. Much of her practice involved power generators.

While a Justice, Ms Romaine was frequently assigned to commercial insolvency and complex commercial matters and was a member of the Court's commercial practice group, serving as Co-chair until 2016. She authored a number of decisions involving:

• CCAA and receivership applications, including cross-border filings,
• large contract disputes, including related to the petrochemicals industry, the oil and gas industry and the construction industry,
• oppression and pre-emptive commercial remedies such as injunctive relief, Mareva, Norwich and Anton Piller orders, and
• constitutional disputes.

She also conducted many judicial dispute resolutions.

She was a faculty member and a panelist for National Judicial Institute seminars, focusing on corporate and commercial law and remedies, commercial insolvency, and judgment writing. She co-edited the Annual Review of Insolvency Law (2012 - 2018) with Dr. Janis Sarra and served on its Editorial Advisory Board until 2023. She was a member of the board of the International Insolvency Institute between 2020 and 2022 and was an International Judicial Affiliate member of the US National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.

Ms Romaine received the Canadian Bar Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2019) for achieving professional excellence, providing leadership and making significant contributions to the Canadian insolvency community.

Ms Romaine is currently a member of INSOL International, the International Insolvency Institute, the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, the International Exchange of Experience on Insolvency Law, and the Bowen Group. She has contributed as a panelist to numerous international programs and conferences for the international associations to which she belongs, and others. She is a member of the ADR Institute of Canada, the ADR Institute of Alberta, and an editor of ADRIC's ADR Perspectives newsletter.

As a judicial member of the Bowen Group, Ms Romaine co-authored two Oxford Press books: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Insolvency and Financial Institutions in Distress.