October 2009 – Billington Barristers, City of Calgary cited in Canadian Lawyer Magazine

The October 2009 edition of Canadian Lawyer Magazine reviews the situation faced by The City of Calgary when it found itself having to deal with a series of very large, abandoned excavations. The article's author writes:

Abandoned construction sites are creating safety concerns, threatening the integrity of infrastructure, and sending City of Calgary lawyers scouring through municipal law to find ways to protect the public. … “The impact on surrounding property owners, city infrastructure, and on public safety is a major concern for the city,” says Paul Frank, a lawyer with the City of Calgary’s Corporate Services Department and one of two lawyers who have been working full time on options to secure the sites. “In the public interest, the city has had to take a number of steps. We’re the only ones in Canada with this issue.” … Ultimately the city can take ownership of the site or sell it at auction, but the process can take up to three years. So Frank, lawyer Susan Trylinski, and outside counsel Richard Billington of Billington Barristers, have been working to find other means to compel compliance in a cost-effective manner. - Daryl-Lynn Carlson