Vancouver lawyer who sued neighbour over deck divider accused of pseudolegal 'paper terrorism'

A Vancouver woman is asking for the courts to make an example of her neighbour, a practising lawyer she alleges has filed a baseless pseudolegal lawsuit against her in an attempt to "provoke a state of fear."

Colleen McLelland stood before a B.C. Supreme Court master on Wednesday, asking for a notice of claim filed by real estate lawyer Naomi Arbabi to be struck as "scandalous, frivolous or vexatious." McLelland also called on the court to refer a complaint against Arbabi to the Law Society of B.C.

"I feel that the court needs to make an example of this case, where a self-represented litigant made arguments in law and followed the proper court procedure, but a lawyer advanced a pseudolegal claim and abused the court's process," McLelland told the master.

"I estimate that my legal fees in this matter, based on the billing of lawyers I've retained in the past, would be approximately $15,000 to date had I not self-represented. This pseudolegal claim has taken months of my time, resulting in unnecessary costs, and more importantly caused extreme stress to me, my family and friends."

Arbabi's notice of claim, filed on Oct. 5, accuses McLelland of "trespass" for installing a privacy divider on her rooftop deck in their Fairview condo building. Arbabi identifies herself as "i, a woman" in the claim and says the case would be tried in the "naomi arbabi court."

She writes that "this is a claim based on law of the land, and not a complaint based on legal codes acts or statutes" and asks for compensation equal to $1,000 a day for every day the glass divider has been in place — totalling close to $70,000 by now. 

McLelland argued the lawsuit is a clear example of what Canadian courts have termed an organized pseudolegal commercial argument (OPCA) — a thoroughly debunked and wholly unsuccessful class of legal theory favoured by fringe groups like Sovereign Citizens and Freemen on the Land.

"In dealing with Ms. Arbabi's notice and claim, I truly feel a victim of paper terrorism and believe the public needs to be protected from such litigation tactics," McLelland said.

On Wednesday, Master Susanna Hughes reserved her decision on McLelland's application to strike the notice of claim, saying she would release written reasons at a later date.

In her submissions on Wednesday, Arbabi denied any association with organized pseudolegal groups, but told the court "I do think that our legal system has a lot of flaws." She argued that she was appearing in court as "a living, breathing, alive woman," not a lawyer, and said she would refer to herself using a lowercase "i".

"That i possess a licence to practice law in the legal jurisdiction of the province of British Columbia does not make i into a lawyer, the same way that having a driver's licence to drive a motor vehicle does not make i into a driver," Arbabi said.

A spokesperson for the Law Society of B.C. said in an email that she could not comment on this specific case, "but in general, pseudolaw arguments do not encourage respect for the administration of justice and could become the basis for an investigation and discipline."

The code of conduct for lawyers in B.C. requires them to encourage respect for the justice system, and says they should not weaken public confidence in legal institutions though irresponsible claims.

In her submissions, McLelland referred to the 2012 Meads vs. Meads decision from Alberta, which has been called a "field guide" for identifying OPCA litigation.