Barbara Boeckx is an experienced civil litigation lawyer focused on advising and defending insurers, insured parties and others involved in high-exposure injury and catastrophic damage claims in the trial and appeals courts of Alberta. More recently, Barbara has expanded her focus to include risk management in the area of emerging technologies and in particular, cyber security. As a senior litigator, Barbara represents clients from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and elsewhere in Canada in complex disputes as well as US-based entities with a presence in Canada.

Insurers seek Barbara's help with difficult claims in the areas of automobile, home, personal injury claims, commercial general liability, director's and officer's liability and professional liability, including defence of insureds, pursuit of subrogated claims, coverage opinions and defence of coverage actions. In addition, she handles litigation that arises in other contexts, including:

• Motor vehicle accidents and transportation
• Occupiers' liability
• Healthcare and health organizations, including the fatality inquiry process
• Fires losses
• Employment relations
• Defamation
• Professional services
• Municipality and schools liability, and
• Manufacturing or design defects.

Barbara has represented clients based in the energy industry in general litigation matters between Owner/Operators and oilfield service companies. These matters include commercial tort and contract disputes, and Barbara’s experience has grown to include significantly complex files which are further complicated by side issues, such as underlying tort claims. "My experience handling these kinds of difficult disputes has given me a practical sense about cases, not just theoretical. I've developed a predictive sense about where the other side might go with their strategy.”

She has appeared before all levels of Court of Alberta and before administrative tribunals and has extensive experience in various forms of alternate dispute resolution, including both private mediation and judicial dispute resolution. Barbara has participated as a speaker for various insurance and risk management seminars on behalf of and for clients and has appeared as a guest speaker for the Insurance Institute and at medical forums.

Value to Clients

Throughout her practice Barbara has placed a priority on understanding the needs of her clients as well as the challenges that they face in their business. She finds that this additional perspective enables her to represent the strongest possible position for her client in a case. "Being a good, interactive listener goes with that, so that I capture the information that is spoken and explore for the information that is unspoken." Barbara excels at complex cases where she has to disseminate large amounts of file content and then reassemble the pieces of the puzzle into a sound litigation strategy.

Outside the Office

In her spare time Barbara loves travelling and tending to her garden. She is also very active in supporting the artistic and athletic pursuits of her daughters.