Our Team

Rita M. Richardson
Partner

(403) 750-1103
richardson@dbblaw.com

Rita joined the firm in 2003 and became a partner in 2008 after many years of experience in Pensions, Benefits and Employment Law and Pensions & HR Administration. Since joining us, Rita has continued to practice Pension and Benefits Law, while she has also developed a practice in Family Law, generally, and with a special interest in Pensions and Benefits.

Rita assists clients with all manner of family law matters, such as pre-marital or cohabitation agreements, separation and divorce, parenting arrangements, child and spousal support matters. In these areas, clients benefit from her specialized pensions and benefits knowledge as well as her family law expertise. Rita also provides other lawyers and their clients with litigation and mediation support when dealing with these issues. She is regularly called in as a subject-matter specialist in Pensions and Benefits in Collaborative Family Law matters. Rita is also regularly retained to deal with Pensions and Benefits issues in employment and estates law matters and for corporate clients.

Few people in Alberta have Rita's combination of expertise and she is frequently called upon to give educational seminars and presentations for lawyers, pension administrators and consultants and to participate in legal reform initiatives in the area. She has published and presented papers for employer and union organizations, employees and retirees and their spouses, as well as for the Federation of Law Societies and the Legal Education Society of Alberta and Canadian Bar Association. Rita has also taught and evaluated students for the Bar Admission Course (CPLED) and taught Pensions in a Family Law context as part of the University of Calgary Family Law Course.

Rita is a member of the Canadian Pensions and Benefits Institute (Alberta South) and Canadian Bar Association. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Childrens' Legal and Educational Resources Centre (CLERC) where she is also the Chair of the Legal Advisory Committee, and is a member of the National Fundraising Committee for the Legal and Education Action Fund (LEAF).

Outside the firm, Rita enjoys family time, hiking, snowshoeing and traveling to France.

Law Practice

• Family Law
• Pensions and Benefits
• Collaborative Family Law
• Mediation

 

Called to the Bar

• Alberta - 1990
• Manitoba - 1991

 

Education

• McGill University, LL.B., 1989
• Concordia University, BA 1985

 

Awards/Recognition

• W.R. Fraser Medal in Philosophy (Concordia University)

 

Memberships

• Calgary Bar Association
• Canadian Bar Association
• Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute

 

 

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