Mediation and Conflict Resolution

Reeve Resolutions provides mediation services to represented parties who want to resolve their disputes prior to adjudication. 

me·di·ate

[verb] /ˈmēdēˌāt/

  1. to intervene between people in a dispute in order to bring about an agreement or reconciliation.

    From the Latin meidare “to be in the middle.”

Connie Reeve opened her mediation practice in 2016, after practicing litigation and employment law in Toronto for 30 years. She has been listed in Who’s Who Legal Canada as a highly experienced mediator since 2020, and was named a Lexology 2022 Client Choice Award winner. She is a member of the Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

Connie's focus as a mediator is on helping the parties to a dispute to understand and overcome impediments to resolution. With a rigorous examination of each party's positions and interests, she facilitates a comprehensive evaluation of risk and the full range of potential outcomes in the negotiation process. As the mediation process is a flexible one, Connie will work with the parties and their legal counsel to design a process that fits their needs.

Background

In the course of her career as a lawyer Connie studied and taught mediation and other forms of dispute resolution. She also represented clients at hundreds of mediations. Her experience as a lawyer and advocate gives her first hand knowledge of the many different kinds of barriers that can stand in the way of a negotiated resolution to a dispute.

  • Connie practiced law for over 30 years at Blakes, a leading Canadian law firm. She practiced commercial litigation for the first part of her legal career and then spent 17 years specializing in employment law. In her litigation practice, Connie represented clients in cases involving professional negligence, partnership law, the termination of long-term contractual relationships and insurance coverage. In her employment law practice she provided both advisory and advocacy services to her clients. She represented clients in dismissal litigation and in disputes concerning the interpretation of employment contracts, restrictive covenants, fiduciary obligations, sexual and workplace harassment, and discrimination.

  • In 1997 Connie completed Osgoode Hall’s first part-time LL.M. program in Alternative Dispute Resolution. In 2002 she was certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Civil Litigation. While in practice she taught Trial Advocacy at Osgoode Hall Law School and Alternative Dispute Resolution at Queens’ University’s Faculty of Law. For many years Connie was also a guest instructor at Osgoode Hall’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop and at skills training programs offered by the Advocates’ Society. In addition, she appeared frequently at continuing legal education conferences, presenting papers or leading panels on a wide range of topics, including the conduct of workplace investigations, accommodation in the workplace, and restrictive covenants. For several years she co-chaired the Law Society's Annual Employment Law Summit.

  • Since starting her mediation practice Connie has continued to participate in continuing legal education programs sponsored by The Advocates' Society ("Ethical Issues in Mediation", April 2016; "Negotiation Strategy from the Mediator's Perspective", May 8, 2018) and by the Law Society of Ontario ( "The Mediator Perspective on Tactics, Negotiation Styles and Ethical Behaviour", 18th Annual Employment Law Summit, October 2017; "Employment Law Update", Civil Appeals: The Year in Review, December 2017 and December 2018)

    In the 2019 - 2020 term Connie served as the Chair of The Advocates’ Society’s Labour and Employment Practice Group. In January of 2021 Connie was a guest instructor at the University of Western Ontario’s Law School teaching in an intensive program called “Introduction to Alternative Dispute Resolution”.

    Connie volunteers with Pro Bono Ontario on its legal advice hotline, and with Matthew House, in its Refugee Hearing Program.

  • In 2020 Connie was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. She has also been recognized for her mediation skills in Who’s Who Legal Canada since 2020. Most recently she was selected for a 2022 Lexology Client Choice award.

    In 2015 Connie received the Ontario Bar Association's Randall Echlin Mentorship Award and in 2012 she was awarded the Catzman Memorial Award for Professionalism & Civility. While practicing as an employment lawyer she was recognized for her expertise in employment and labour law in several publications, including Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business; The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory; The Legal 500 Canada; The Best Lawyers in Canada; and Legal Media Group's Guide to the Leading Women in Business Law (Employment Law).