The Honourable Chief Justice Ritu Khullar was a member of Chivers Carpenter from 1998 until her appointment to the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta in 2017. She became a partner in 2002 and served as the firm’s Managing Partner from 2009 to 2017. During her years in practice, she developed a distinguished litigation and advisory practice focused on labour and employment law, constitutional law, administrative law, privacy, and human rights. She represented public and private sector unions, administrative tribunals, government agencies, and individual clients before boards and tribunals, all levels of court in Alberta, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Chief Justice Khullar was involved in a number of landmark cases that helped shape Canadian law. She was a member of the legal team in Vriend v. Alberta, the Supreme Court of Canada decision that extended Charter protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation under Alberta human rights legislation. She represented the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) before the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Ewanchuk and in R. v. Shearing – two leading decisions in Canadian sexual assault law involving issues of consent and a complainant’s privacy rights. She also acted as counsel for LEAF in R. v. Barton, obtaining leave to intervene before the Alberta Court of Appeal in a case involving important issues relating to the treatment of Indigenous women and sexual assault law. In labour and constitutional law, she appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of the United Nurses of Alberta in Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v. Saskatchewan, a landmark decision affirming constitutional protection for the right to strike. Her pro bono work also included the long-running case of Linda McKay Panos v. Air Canada, which addressed whether obesity constitutes a disability requiring accommodation in air travel.
Beyond her advocacy work, Chief Justice Khullar made significant contributions to legal education and professional development. She taught Constitutional Law, Labour Arbitration, and Advanced Administrative Law at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and was a frequent lecturer and presenter for the Canadian Bar Association, the Legal Education Society of Alberta, the Centre for Constitutional Studies, and numerous labour and administrative law conferences across Canada.
Her professional leadership included service as Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Constitutional and Civil Liberties Section, membership on the Federal Advisory Committee on Judicial Appointments for Alberta, service on the Alberta Law Reform Institute, and leadership roles with the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), the Centre for Constitutional Studies, and the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers. She also served as a member of the University of Alberta Senate from 2008 to 2011.
Chief Justice Khullar earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours, magna cum laude) from the University of Alberta and an LL.B. (Honours) from the University of Toronto. She clerked with the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Court of Queen’s Bench before being called to the Alberta Bar in 1992. She was appointed King’s Counsel (then Queen’s Counsel) in 2014 in recognition of her professional excellence.
In 2017, Chief Justice Khullar was appointed to the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta and, in 2018, to the Court of Appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. On November 28, 2022, she was appointed Chief Justice of Alberta. Her career continues to be defined by public service, legal excellence, and a commitment to the rule of law.