Alexander D. Pettingill

Phone: 416.507.1802
Email: apettingill@tgplawyers.com
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Areas of Practice & Experience:

Alex is an experienced trial and appellate counsel with a broad litigation practice, including corporate and commercial litigation, insurance litigation (both defence and coverage), as well as the defence of professional negligence, class actions, and defamation claims. This expertise has resulted in dozens of reported cases and decisions, as he will frequently try a case to verdict. He has also been successful in numerous cases before the Ontario Court of Appeal, both in resisting and advancing appeals, and has represented clients before the Supreme Court of Canada. Alex has been described as having a formidable strategic mind, and the clients he tends to attract are generally involved in complex, sophisticated disputes with high stakes exposure, typically with an insurance component or implication.

As one who knows the value of resolving claims, Alex has conducted dozens of successful mediations. However, if a case cannot be settled through negotiation, Alex has the experience, ability and will to take a case to trial.

Alex has been successful counsel in many of the leading decisions in educational malpractice in Ontario. In his practice, he has acted for virtually every major University in Ontario. Alex has also been successful in his representation of numerous institutional clients, particularly in the area of vicarious liability for various torts, including sexual abuse and harassment. He has spoken before groups such as the Ontario Risk and Insurance Managers Society, and the Insurance Institute of Ontario on topics including defending institutions against sexual abuse/harassment claims, claims handling, the duty to defend, and misrepresentations in the insurance context. Alex is a contributing editor to The Federated Press – Professional Liability Edition.

Recent representative work includes:

• Acts as one of the lead defence counsel in the largest Class Action in Canadian history;
• Acts for an Ontario university in defence of a class action brought by former students;
• Successfully acted as lead trial counsel in claims involving professional liability, economic torts, sexual abuse, occupier’s liability, personal injury, wrongful dismissal, tavern liability, and intellectual property;
• Has defended doctors and midwives in medical malpractice and professional negligence claims;
• Acts for a major international actuarial firm in the defence of an action alleging the negligent actuarial evaluation of a professional liability insurance program;
• Was a key player in the settlement negotiations led by former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Frank Iacobucci, which led to the $4 billion class action settlement involving approximately 90,000 Indian Residential School claims;
• Acts as counsel to the United Church of Canada, and has assisted in drafting its Sexual Abuse Procedural Guidelines;

Click here for a list of some of Alex's recent and notable decisions.

Education:

• LL.B., Queen's University, 1990
• B.A., University of Western Ontario, 1987
• Called to the Bar in Ontario, 1992

Associations:

• The Advocates’ Society
• Canadian Defense Lawyers Association
• Defense Research Institute

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