UAlberta Law Professor and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley, Professor and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, has been named a recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Service Award for Legal Scholarship by the Canadian Bar Association, Alberta Branch and the Law Society of Alberta.
Recognized as pre-eminent among the awards given by the aforementioned organizations, she joins an impressive cohort of other UAlberta Law recipients, including Professor Mitchell McInnes (2016) and Professor Shannon O'Byrne (2014).
"The areas of law I teach and research are very much connected to the profession of law - procedure, insurance law, class actions - so my work, research and teaching doesn't fall into legal theory as much as the work of other people might. It's nice to see it's making a difference to people who are doing that kind of work and practice," said Billingsley.
To date, Billingsley has published over 20 articles, case comments and book reviews in peer-reviewed, academic and practitioner-focused law reviews and journals. Further, she's also contributed to seven textbooks, casebooks and edited collections, where one of which she was the sole author.
The desire to publish and learn isn't unique to just her, said Billingsley, who praises her colleagues and the Faculty for their research and contributions to the profession.
"Publication is the way of getting the work we do out there, beyond the students that we're teaching. And working on books and articles in addition to getting your own research and thinking out there, it helps to re-inform or take your classes in new directions," she said.
Billingsley has been teaching with the Faculty since 1996, first as a sessional instructor and then as a full time faculty member starting in 2001. She said a return to school as a professor was a natural progression.
"I loved school. When I was in law school I thought it was the greatest thing. And I came back for further studies in law just for the sheer enjoyment of learning it. And from the point of view of teaching, there is nothing like seeing that enjoyment in someone else," she said.
Originally from Calgary, she completed her post-secondary education at the University of Alberta. Although she had participated in different activities that "naturally dovetailed in an interest in law" - political studies, debating society - she chose law because it was both challenging and interesting, and because it had a logic to it that appealed to her.
"I like the way that law tries to find a rational way through human problems. That isn't to say there's no room for emotion or emotional needs within law, but it provides sort if a rational structure to follow through to try and find solutions," she said.
The four Distinguished Service Awards (Service to the Profession, Service to the Community, Legal Scholarship and Pro Bono Legal Service) are awarded annually through a nomination and selection process. Billingsley said the Faculty, specifically Dean Paul Paton and Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Development Chris Sprysak, has been supportive in not only nominating her for this award, but other Faculty for many other recognitions.
"It's something that wouldn't have come my way without their support. There are a lot of people who put a lot of work into the nomination and I appreciate it," she said.