Our Expertise

MEDIATION SERVICES

What types of disputes Percival Law mediates

As a longstanding defence counsel for numerous large insurance companies and self-insured entities, Thomas Percival has acquired a broad range of expertise, gaining significant knowledge and experience  in the following practice areas within Commercial & Personal Lines Property and Casualty Insurance:

-  Slip/trip and fall incidents - private property claims (i.e., Occupiers’ Liability Act, with particular experience in supermarket and restaurant venues) and claims involving municipalities
-  Disability claims
-  Automobile Insurance claims (Bodily Injury & Accident Benefits)
-  CGL litigation
-  Product Liability claims
-  Tavern/Social Host Liability claims
-  Homeowners Insurance claims
-  Dog Owners’ Liability Act claims (i.e., "dog bite" cases)
-  Property Damage Subrogation claims (e.g., losses by fire, water, theft, etc.)
-  LAT and WSIB tribunal matters
-  Power Sports Insurance claims
-  Insurance fraud
-  Directors & Officers Liability claims 
-  Coverage/Priority disputes

Mr. Percival has also lectured insurers across Canada on the topics of occupiers' liability, disability claims and motor vehicle legislation and litigation.

Mr. Percival's broad range of knowledge and experience, and familiarity with solid negotiation methods, provides him with a solid arsenal of tools with which to mediate a wide variety of disputes.

Why Percival Law Mediation is different

Mediation is a form of facilitated negotiation. A neutral and impartial mediator is entrusted with the task of facilitating dialogue and steering the parties toward resolution. To encourage candid discussion, the mediator relies on the trust of all parties. The mediator does not take sides. The mediator has no personal interest in the outcome. The mediator’s role is to encourage communication, concessions and a resolution arrived at by the parties themselves.

For a mediation to work successfully, both sides need to be committed to participating in good faith. They must be prepared to engage in a frank dialogue, stay focused on resolution, and attend with authority to ultimately agree upon a settlement at the end of the process. 

Thomas Percival places great emphasis on the trust bestowed upon him as a mediator by clients who rely on him to guide their communication toward resolution.

The following are a few advantages to using Percival Law's mediation services:

1. A proactive, interactive and balanced approach

Drawing on the proactive approach he consistently used on the files he handled as a lawyer, with an emphasis on pre-discovery settlement, Thomas Percival applies the same principles to effectively assist parties in finding resolution through mediation. Mediation is an approach that allows for settlement well before a case spirals out of control, where the parties become too entrenched in their positions, and the dispute has escalated to the point that trial is seen as the only remaining outcome – replete with additional time, expense and risk. 

Further, having worked as a lawyer representing both plaintiffs and defendants in numerous personal injury, commercial loss and contractual disputes over the past 30 years, Thomas Percival has a balanced, impartial overview and understanding of disputes. As a mediator, seeing the “bigger picture” from both sides of a dispute, he can assist in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each side. This advantage means that Thomas Percival can encourage realistic concessions aimed at bridging the gap between the parties. He is imaginative and unconventional enough to assist parties to “think outside the box” while addressing their underlying interests, needs, fears and goals. Such creative thinking allows the parties to craft mutually beneficial win/win solutions instead of the win/lose outcome guaranteed by trial. 

Mr. Percival's mediation style is perhaps a bit more assertive and involved than that of many other mediators, but his style consistently produces solid results. Savvy and personable, he excels at assisting the parties in crafting effective settlement strategies, largely through persistently encouraging concessions from both sides of a dispute by carefully analyzing and discussing the merits and risks associated with positions taken, and advising parties not necessarily what they want to hear, but rather, what they probably should hear in order to make appropriate moves to increase the likelihood of resolution and closure. With a mediation style that consistently achieves great results, Mr. Percival's clients trust him to get the job done, even under the most challenging circumstances. He is often called upon, on an urgent basis, to mediate matters on the eve of trials, usually resulting in success, namely, last minute settlements where all prior efforts by mediation and pretrial were unsuccessful, thus saving both sides the significant time, effort, risk and expense associated with rolling the dice to see what happens at trial, and lessening Court backlog as well. 

2. A dynamic, flexible and adaptive style

Thomas Percival alternates between evaluative and facilitative roles tailored to the unique nuances of a particular dispute. This entails a special sensitivity not just to the facts of each case but also to the personalities of those involved. Fused together, these qualities maximize the prospect of resolution. Thomas Percival can promise an active, engaged mediation process — not the usual passive, paper pushing “shuttle mediation” where a mediator simply passes offers back and forth between parties lodged in separate rooms, which offers little value to the parties. In addition to being thoroughly prepared for every mediation, Thomas Percival draws on his broad past experience as a lawyer to be as evaluative and resourceful as the parties require or desire, offering input on strategies, concessions and assessments, which can help temper expectations and sharpen the appetite for settlement.

3. An enjoyable experience 

Thomas Percival is a skillful but uncommon mediator; a lawyer with an easygoing, fun personality, intent on making the experience enjoyable for his clients. Two of his greatest attributes are his affable, relatable personality, and his optimistic commitment to the mediation process. His longstanding working relationships with many lawyers and insurers will assist in creating a familiar but respectful dialogue between the parties at the mediation, with an emphasis on professionalism and civility throughout. Thomas Percival also promises that every dispute will be mediated with great savvy, tenacity and stamina. Even if settlement is not reached by the end of a mediation, he will encourage the continuation of dialogue, and make himself available to resume future settlement talks whenever possible. 

4. Accessible and accommodating

Thomas Percival resides in Oakville, Ontario and his law firm is located in Burlington, Ontario, but he is easily accessible and accommodating, ready and pleased to travel throughout Ontario to mediate disputes at agreed upon office facilities offering rented boardrooms and breakout rooms. However, since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, he has hosted most of his mediations remotely via Zoom, which has expanded the geographical boundaries of his clientele from local to across Ontario and Canada. Thomas Percival is also adept with technology, and effective at efficiently conducting mediations virtually and in-person alike.

5. Experience and value

Thomas Percival offers great value as a fully trained, competent and trustworthy mediator with an extensive legal background and ample practical experience. His competitive reduced "hybrid" rates -- base rates of $1,600 for half-day mediations and $3,600 for full day mediations -- are considerably cheaper than the private rates charged by many of his peers. For the first 4 years of his mediation career, Thomas Percival offered half-day mediations up to 3 hours at the roster rate under the Ontario Mandatory Mediation Program pursuant to Rule 24.1 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure, albeit indexed for inflation, since those rates have remained unchanged since set in 1998. However, effective January 1, 2023, Thomas Percival now offers half-day mediation services at a reduced "hybrid" rate -- between roster and traditional private rates -- which, after factoring in additional preparation time beyond the 30 minutes provided under the roster guidelines, ends up very similar to the previous indexed roster rate in any event. This hybrid rate is more realistic, practical and workable than applying an arbitrary rate tethered to roster guidelines imposed a quarter of a century ago and never updated thereafter.