Billington Barristers Defeats Emergency Injunction Application Against Credit Union

Justice Darren Reed of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta sided with the financial institution represented by Richard Billington, K.C. and Richard Hayles of Billington Barristers, rejecting a request for an injunction to interfere with the conduct of the Annual Meeting of the members of a credit union. The application had been brought on extremely short notice, requiring a rapid response from Billington Barristers, by a disgruntled director whose conduct was chastised by Richard Billington in submissions before the court. In siding with Billington, the court found that the injunction should be requested as it would have interfered with the ability of the members of the credit union to determine who they thought fit to serve on the board.

The court then awarded costs to Billington Barristers’ client, Justice Reed noted that:

This was an urgent application brought by Mr. Gill. He was unsuccessful…. The issues raised were complex and the evidence was somewhat voluminous. There is no doubt the parties, on both sides, put in a significant amount of work in a short time. In bringing such an application, Mr. Gill must have been mindful of the fact that if he lost, he could be exposed to a significant costs award.

The Court’s decision can be found at https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abkb/doc/2024/2024abkb194/2024abkb194.html?resultIndex=3&resultId=efd4eb5991c3465b9819a8e38880d995&searchId=2024-08-01T12:37:46:115/9b9e571f7df94e1fb8d4c6d583d20673