Education

Bar Admission

  • 1991 Admitted to the British Columbia Bar

On behalf of the Partners, Associates, and staff of Alexander Holburn, we wish to express our gratitude to Eileen Vanderburgh for her dedication to the Administrative Law, Appellate Advisory and Information + Privacy Practice Groups. In January 2023, she retired from full-time practice.

Enquiries regarding our Appellate Advisory practice group may be directed to group leader, Kathryn McGoldrick

Representative Experience

Ms. Vanderburgh has extensive experience in administrative law matters, including hearings before statutory decision makers and judicial review of decisions made in a wide variety of areas, including WorkSafe, Human Rights, Residential Tenancy, Information and Privacy, and decisions made by government officials. Recent decisions in this area include:

She regularly advises and represents private organizations, including sport governing bodies, in matters related to governance, privacy, litigation, disciplinary proceedings and proceedings under the Societies Act.

  • She has represented forest industry clients and major insurers in tort and contract claims including liability and damages arising from forest fires, timber trespass, and forest road use.
  • She has acted for beneficiaries, executors and trustees in estate and trust litigation, including issues of resulting trust and undue influence and interpretation of a testamentary trust.
  • She regularly advises public bodies on compliance with privacy and access to information obligations under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and has represented public bodies in numerous proceedings before the information and Privacy Commissioner. She also advises private sector clients on compliance with the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act and the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, including issues of employee privacy, use of customer and member personal information, security and appropriate disclosure of personal information.

Publications

  • Information and Privacy Law, Quickscribe Services Ltd., Expert Legal Annotator (ongoing)
  • November 1, 2017, Appellate Practice 2017, CLEBC, Co-chair
  • March 2017, “Counsel Comments – Dunn v. TD Canada Trust”, Take Five (BC) Onpoint Legal Research, Speaker
  • October 20, 2016, Summary Trials, CLEBC, Faculty member
  • April 17, 2015, Appellate Practice 2015, CLEBC, Co-chair
  • May 22, 2014, “Thinking Like an Appellate Lawyer”, Canadian Defence Lawyers 2014 Bootcamp, Speaker (with Kathryn McGoldrick)
  • January 23, 2014, “Legal Update – 2013 in Review”, International Association of Privacy Professionals, (Vancouver), Speaker
  • Spring/Summer 2013, “B.C. Court of Appeal upholds indemnity in school rental contract”, RiskEd, (a risk management newsletter for the Schools Protection Program’s members), Vol. 17, No. 2, Author
  • May 2013, “Personal Information in Cyberspace – Managing the Risk of a Privacy Breach”, RIMS Canada Newsletter, Author
  • November 20, 2012, “Designing and implementing a privacy management program”, 6th Managing Privacy Compliance Course (Federated Press), Speaker
  • October 30, 2012, “Establishing ‘harm’ when withholding records under FIPPA“, International Association of Privacy Professionals (Vancouver), Speaker
  • June 2012, “Employers’ Use of Facebook in the Hiring Process – it’s not a ‘Like’”, Internet and E-Commerce Law in Canada, Volume 13, No. 2, Author
  • May 2012, “Whose e-mail is it? University does not control personal e-mail of faculty members”Canadian Privacy Law Review, Volume 9, No. 7, Author

Professional & Community Affiliations