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.
She joins an impressive cohort of other UAlberta Law professors who have received this prestigious award, including Mitchell McInnes (2016) and 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," said Billingsley."It's nice to see it's making a difference to people who are doing that kind of work and practice."
Billingsley has published more than 20 articles, case comments and book reviews in peer-reviewed, academic and practitioner-focused law reviews and journals. She's also contributed to seven textbooks, casebooks and edited collections.
The desire to publish and learn isn't unique to her, said Billingsley, who praises her colleagues and the Faculty of Law for 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," she said. "Working on books and articles in addition to getting your own research and thinking out there, it helps to reinform or take your classes in new directions."
Billingsley has been teaching with the Faculty since 1996, first as a sessional instructor and then as a fulltime faculty member since 2001. She said a return to school as a professor was a natural progression.
"I loved school," she said. "When I was in law school I thought it was the greatest thing. 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."
Originally from Calgary, Billingsley completed her post-secondary education at the University of Alberta. Although she participated in political studies and the debating society, pursuits that "naturally dovetailed in an interest in law," she chose law because it was both challenging and interesting, and because it had a logic that appealed to her.
"I like the way that law tries to find a rational way through human problems." she said. "That isn't to say there's no room for emotion or emotional needs within law, but it provides sort of a rational structure to follow through to try and find solutions."
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 Chris Sprysak, associate dean of research and faculty development, was supportive in not only nominating her for this award, but also in nominating other faculty members 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.