Mr Coleman graduated with honors from Williams College in 1970, and from the Yale Law School in 1973, where he received the Benjamin Schapps Award for an outstanding academic achievement. Upon graduation, Mr. Coleman worked for a civil rights law firm in Savannah, Georgia. During his first year of practice Mr. Coleman argued and won the landmark civil rights cases of Westberry v Gilman Paper Co., 507 F.2nd 206 (5th Cir. 1975), which held that the Fourteenth Amendment and 42 USC Section 1985(3) operated in tandem to create a private cause of action, and M.S.K v. State of Georgia, 131 Ga App.1; 205 S.E. 2d 59 (1974) in which the Georgia Court of Appeals held that an order of a juvenile judge that prohibited a 9 year old black child from ever returning to school because he touched a white female class mate in her private parts violated the child’s fundamental right to receive an education. He then served as a law clerk for the Honorable Edward T. Gignoux, the United States District Court Judge for the District of Maine.

He returned to his native Philadelphia in 1975, where he joined a national firm and gained extensive litigation experience representing Fortune 100 clients in the defense, automotive, high tech, manufacturing and transportation industries, as well as state and municipal governments in a broad range of litigation matters that included commercial, antitrust, condemnation, products liability, construction, and employment cases. Some of the significant reported cases in which Mr Coleman participated during this stage of his career included: In Re Sugar Industry Antitrust Litigation, 73 F.R.D. 322 (E.D. Pa. 1976)(class action issues arising out of sugar antitrust litigation); Rouse Philadelphia, Inc. v Ad Hoc 78 , 274 Pa. Super. 54, 417 A.2d 1248(1979), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1004(1980)(prepared ACLU Amicus Brief in seeking certiorari from the United States Supreme Court on claim of first amendment protection for consumer boycott); Schuda v Sperry Corporation, 1986 WL 5343 (E.D. Pa. 1986) (won employer jury verdict in age discrimination case). From 1988 through 1994, though his practice remained varied, he headed the management employment practice of his firm’s Detroit office. Some of the more significant employment matters Mr. Coleman addressed included: Richards v Southwest Airlines , 966 F.2d 1454(6th Cir, 1992) (affirming summary judgment on wrongful discharge claim); Fix v Unisys Corporation, 782 F. Supp. 343 (E.D. Mich.1992) (winning summary judgment on age and wrongful discharge claims); Jackson ve Sheller-Globe Corp., et. al., Civil Action No. 870-718498CZ, Wayne County Circuit Court (won no cause jury verdict on race, handicap, and wrongful discharge claims); Cochran v. Ernst & Young, Wayne County Retirement Commission and Detroit National Bank, 758 F. Supp. 1548(E.D. Mich.1992) (won summary judgment on behalf of Wayne County Commission in action for violation of pension plan and breach of fiduciary duties). Some of the important lawsuits Mr. Coleman worked on in other areas of the law while in Michigan included: Eldridge v City of Detroit and Southwest Airlines, et. al., Civil Action No. 90-023071-CK, Wayne County Circuit Court ( obtained dismissal of Southwest Airlines from lawsuit involving environmental and land dispute arising out of extension of Detroit City Airport runways for the specific purpose of accommodating greater range of Southwest jets); Fimex v Chysler Corporation, Civil Action N0. 84-CV-7607-AA(E.D. Mich.1984)(defense of Chysler on UCC and common law contract claims arising out of long term supply agreement); Phillips Petroleum Company v. Sun Pipeline Company, et al,. Civil Action No. 87-7253337-CK, Wayne County Circuit Court ( obtained favorable settlement on behalf of Sun Pipeline Company based on counterclaim arising out of Phillips’ complaint alleging UCC and common law contract and tort claims predicated on common use of pipeline); City of Detroit v Sisters of Mercy Hospital, Civil Action No. 80-044-488-CC (represented City of Detroit in $100, 000,000 valuation dispute arising from acquisition of hospital and land by the City of Detroit as part of the General Motors Poletown project); U.S v Hatchett, 918 F.2d 631 (6^th Cir. 1990), cert denied, 111 S. Ct. 2839 (1991)(obtained acquittal on behalf of prominent Detroit attorney on four felony counts and pursued appeal on certain misdemeanor tax convictions to the Supreme Court, falling one vote short of certiorari).

In 1994 Mr Coleman was tapped by President Clinton to serve as the General Counsel of the United States Army. As Army General Counsel Mr. Coleman managed a staff of 2600 attorneys who reported to him through three commands: the Judge Advocat General, the Army Material Command; and the Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Coleman’s tenure as Army General Counsel required him to address several of the most challenging human resource issues the nation faced during the 90's; the development and implementation of the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy in regard to homosexuals serving in the military; gender integration into the Armed Forces; the investigation and prosecution of cases arising out of the Aberdeen sexual harassment scandal; oversight of a comprehensive review and reformation of all Department of Defense procurement and Human Resource statutes, regulations and policies to assure that the Department’s affirmative action programs satisfied the standards enunciated in Adarand Constructors v Pena, 515 US 200(1995), and successful oversight of the defense of an 8 billion dollar reverse discrimination claim brought by non-minority officers who alleged that the Army’s officer promotion and selection practices and policies were racially discriminatory. Outside the human resource arena, as Army General Counsel Mr Coleman; Led negotiations of international MOU’s implementing strategic alliances and partnerships with US allies; developed legal strategies for implementation of the Panama Canal Treaty; provided oversight to the Army’s review of mergers and acquisitions involving Northrop-Grumman, Boeing-McDonald Douglas, Raytheon-Texas Instruments and Lockheed Martin-General Dynamics; provided oversight of the negotiation of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal cleanup, which concluded 15 years of litigation and achieved a cost savings of 2 billion dollars; provided legal oversight of acquisition reform initiatives, saving DOD $8 billion dollars, which was diverted to modernization programs such as development of ‘smart weapons’ critical to the initial military success of Iraqi deployment.

Mr Coleman has had great success in jury trials in employment as well as other types of cases. Since joining Berger & Montague, Mr. Coleman’s practice has focused exclusively on class actions brought on behalf of employees whose rights have been violated under state or federal anti-discrimination, fair wage, and employment laws. Mr. Coleman is also a founding and senior member of "The Rights Group", a department of Berger & Montague, P.C. that is internationally recognized for its success in prosecuting international human rights and domestic civil rights class actions.

Mr. Coleman has been a frequent panelist, speaker and lecturer on a wide range of legal and social topics. Representative engagements include: "The Importance of Speaking Out", American Bar Association National Conference For the Minority Lawyer, Plenary Session Keynote Speaker (2003); " Strategies For Settling Employment Cases", 7^th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, (2001); "Litigating Disability Cases", Temple University Employment Law Forum, (1999); "Acquisition Reform in the Defense Industry," National Contract Management Association, (1997); "DoD, the Private Sector, and Ethics," Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct, (1996); "Privatization and Outsourcing in the Defense Industry", Forbes Conference, Rebuilding America, (1996); " Civilian Control of the Military," Partnership for Peace Status of Forces Agreement Implementations Conference, Garmisch , Germany" (1996); " The Aftermath of Adarand", delivered at the Harvard Law School Symposium on Civil Rights, and the ABA Public Contract Law Section (1996); "Ethics In Government", Detroit Bar Association, Government Practice Section, (1995); "What Would A Jury Consider To Be Reasonable Accommodation Under The Americans With Disabilities Act", Michigan State Bar Convention, (1994).

Mr. Coleman is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Third, Sixth, and Fifth Circuits, the United States Court of Claims, the Court of Military Appeals, and multiple district courts. While in Michigan, Mr. Coleman served as the Chair of the Detroit Bar Association Committee for the Evaluation of the Qualifications of Supreme Court Justices, and on the Executive Board of the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Coleman is a member of the US Court of Claims Council, and is a lifetime member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference. Mr. is available and serves as a Neutral Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, and is a member of the American Law Institute. He is a Recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the highest DOD award given to a civilian.