Professor Barbara Billingsley Cited in Supreme Court of Canada Ruling

In its November 25, 2016 ruling in Lizotte v. Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada set out three fundamental principles regarding the doctrine of litigation privilege. Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Gascon held that litigation privilege (1) is fundamental to the administration of justice in Canada; (2) is properly characterized as a class privilege; and (3) cannot be abrogated in the absence of an explicit legislative provision setting aside the privilege. In characterizing litigation privilege as a class privilege, the court cited with approval Professor Barbara Billingsley's recently published article, "'Ingathered' Records and the Scope of Litigation Privilege in Canada: Does Litigation Privilege Apply to Copies or Collections of Otherwise Unprivileged Documents?" (2014) 43 Adv. Q. 280.