Ari N. Kaplan is a partner at Koskie Minsky LLP in Toronto, Canada and is the author of Pension Law (Toronto: Irwin Law 2006). He is recognized as a leading practitioner in the area of pensions and benefits by both the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and Best Lawyers in Canada.

His book, the first on Canadian pension law and regulation, appears in law libraries across Canada and internationally and has been cited as an authority in several appellate decisions, including by the Supreme Court of Canada.  Mr. Kaplan’s pension law practice is diverse; his clients include trustees of multi-employer pension plans, employee and pensioner groups, private and public sector trade unions and individuals. 

His practice has an emphasis on pension trust, surplus and wind up matters; administrative law and class proceedings involving pension rights; spousal pension and marriage breakdown entitlements; plan governance and regulatory compliance.  Ari has been counsel on some of Canada’s leading pension cases including Monsanto, Kerry and Stairs, advocates regularly before the Ontario Superior Court, Divisional Court and the Financial Services Tribunal and has appeared before the Federal Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada. 

Ari has also advised provincial and federal political parties on their election platforms, and on pension policy and legislative reform.  Mr. Kaplan is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Toronto and an associate professor of law at the University of Western Ontario and teaches pension law at those institutions.  He is a member of the FSCO legal advisory committee and sits on the executive of the Ontario Bar Association pension and benefits section. 

Ari is also active in the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans; he teaches the ATMS Part IV Pensions course and is editor-in-chief of the Legal & Legislative Reporter section of the Canadian Benefits & Compensation Digest.