Ari Kaplan is principal of KAPLAN • LAW. He is renowned for his expertise in pensions and benefits law and clear way of explaining legal issues. He wrote Canada’s treatise in Pension Law and has rankings in Chambers® (Band 1), Lexpert® (Most Frequently Recommended) and Best Lawyers® (2006-2022).
Ari has 22 years experience representing clients before the superior courts of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and New Brunswick. He has also appeared before the Ontario Court of Appeal, Quebec Court of Appeal, New Brunswick Court of Appeal, Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada.
Ari’s clients are stakeholders with an interest in a pension plan or benefit plan, private and public sector, boards and associations, regulators and government, and groups of employees, employers and pensioners.
Ari Kaplan has experience in all pensions and benefits law matters involving administration and governance, benefits and funding, deficits and surplus, regulatory compliance, family and marriage breakdown, spousal and survivor rights, reorganization and restructuring, termination and wind-up, employment and labour relations, constitutional and jurisdictional law, in court or tribunal proceedings, including group representation and class actions.
Ari is also a dispute resolution (ADR) professional and Canada’s first Qualified Mediator (Q.Med) with expertise in pension and benefits law. He is ranked in the 2022 Chambers Canada® Guide for Dispute Resolution: Mediators Nationwide (Band 2). Ari is a member of the ADR Institute of Canada and founding member of the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario. He leads commercial, family and workplace law mediations.
Kaplan Law is committed to access to justice and equity, promotes diversity, inclusion and reconciliation, and supports antiracist thinking. Ari Kaplan was appointed by the Attorney General to the board of trustees of the Law Foundation of Ontario and served two terms on the board of directors of the Ontario Justice Education Network. For over a decade, he was adjunct faculty of law at the University of Toronto and co-created its pension law course.
Ari Kaplan is a member of the Law Society of Ontario (1999). He is active in the legal and benefits communities and an advocate for workplace wellness. Ari practices mindfulness and is completing the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program at the University of California, Berkeley).
