Jewish Meditation Online Course Aug. 7, 14, 21, 28

I am teaching a four-class Jewish mindfulness course in August called Zman Nakat, based on my book Toronto Method Mindfulness Handbook: Six Lessons in Embodied and Compassionate Meditation. This will be held on Wednesday evenings from 7:30-8:30pm ET (Aug. 7, 14, 21, 28) at neySHEV (“we SIT”) –online Jewish meditation community.

During each one-hour live online class, we will learn Judaic mnemonics for mindful presence and self-compassion using familiar prompts from the Jewish tradition, and sit in guided and silent meditation.

Zman Nakat loosely translates to tempus fugit, or “time flies,” which is a metaphor apropos mindfulness. The phrase is also an heuristic corresponding to the first letter of each of the Six Orders of the Mishna.

Enrolment is limited. To express interest and/or sign up, please send an email to info@kaplanlaw.ca. Suggested cost for the course is $89 (+HST) (sliding scale) and payment can also be made by subscribing to neySHEV, as you are able.

The course is accredited by the Law Society of Ontario for 3.0 professionalism hours inclusive of 1.0 EDI hour. You do not need to be a lawyer to take this class.

About the teacher: Ari Kaplan is a lawyer, mediator and arbitrator and principal of Kaplan Law, a top-ranked pension and benefits dispute resolution law firm. He is currently researching a PhD in Law and Emotion at Western Law, and teaches wellness workshops to professionals and trustees. He is author of Toronto Method Mindfulness Handbook: Six Lessons in Embodied and Compassionate Meditation; and Pension Law, winner of the Walter Owen Walter Book Prize and cited in seven decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Kaplan Law’s 2023 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office

Wishing you and yours a safe and meaningful holiday season from Kaplan Law. For your listening discovery, please see below the 2023 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office which we have enjoyed during this past year. Spotify links are clickable in the PDF: here.

ICYMI, we also listened to our Best of 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019  and 2018 album office favourites.

This year, our firm has repeated our donation to support the work of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which works to advance equality and justice and effect systemic change in our communities by challenging laws, standing up to power, and educating youth on their rights.

On behalf of Kaplan Law, our warmest regards,

PDF with links HERE

Kaplan Law’s 2022 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office

Wishing you and yours a safe and joyous holiday season from Kaplan Law. For your listening discovery, please see below the 2022 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office which we have enjoyed during this past year. Spotify links are clickable in the PDF: here.

ICYMI, we also enjoyed Best of 2021, and our Best of 2020, Best of 2019 and Best of 2018 album office favourites. This year, our firm donated to the Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN), which introduces thousands of young people to the justice system annually and builds legal capacity through innovative programming and shared lived experience.

On behalf of Kaplan Law, our warmest regards,

PDF with links HERE

Toronto Method Mindfulness with Ari Kaplan Online SUMMER TRAINING Jul 3–Aug 15, 2022

Course Offering

** UPDATE: SUMMER COURSE IS FULL PLEASE CONTACT info@kaplanlaw.ca FOR MORE INFO ON THE NEXT TRAINING 🙏🏽 🧘🏻‍♀️

This year, I developed a mindfulness meditation curriculum and delivered it for my practicum in training as a professional mindfulness meditation facilitator. I have been meditating for a decade, and it is probably the most important skill I have ever learned.

I am delivering the training again this summer. The purpose of this course is to help you develop your own mindfulness meditation practice.

The Law Society of Ontario has accredited these six weekly one-hour online classes with 2.0 hours of professionalism content plus 1.0 EDI hour (for a total of 3.0 professionalism hours inclusive of EDI). This course is also approved by the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO).

Each session will have a teaching on a mindfulness practice, plus live guided and silent sits and a debrief. You will receive a course booklet and summaries, access to online meditations, and a certificate of completion for accreditation.

Course Particulars

Toronto Method Mindfulness with Ari Kaplan SUMMER TRAINING – will be offered on Zoom:

Sundays, 10-11 am ET on July 3, 10, 17, 24, August 7, 14 (NOTE: No Class on July 31)
Mondays, 2-3 pm ET on July 4, 11, 18, 25, August 8, 15 (NOTE: No Class on August 1)
**** each week you decide whether you want to attend either the Sunday or Monday class ****

Practice topics to be covered include:

• Mindful self-compassion and the RAIN practice (recognize, allow, inquire, nurture)

• Awareness of breath, body, feeling tone and mind

• Concentration and natural awareness

• Six-sense noting

• Focusing

Conceptual topics to be covered include:

• Wellness and professional responsibility

• Mental health, trauma, adversity, neurophysiology and neurodiversity

• Metaphor, movement, imagery, visualization and symbol as mindfulness tools

• Embodied reckoning, reconciliation and integration

This program is being offered at the promotional summer rate of $199 $119 + HST, always barrier-free with subsidies and discounts available.

“I learned a lot from Ari’s course. As someone new to meditation, it opened a window, and helped me appreciate the foundational principles of mindfulness. I enjoyed it immensely.”

— Hilary Linton, Founder, Riverdale Mediation Ltd. and mediate393 inc.

For more information or to inquire about reserving a spot, please contact info@kaplanlaw.ca or leave a voice message at 416.565.4656. Enrolment in the program is limited and each participant will be asked to fill out a short intake form prior to registration.

About the Teacher

Ari Kaplan is a lawyer and dispute mediator in Toronto. He is pursuing a PhD at Western University in Law and Affect Theory. He has taught mindfulness meditation for the Canadian Bar Association, for professional communities, and at neySHEV (we SIT). He is completing the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (UC, Berkeley) with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. He has practiced mindfulness for over a decade and is influenced by Sam Harris, Kristin Neff, Heidi Walk, Sebene Selassie, Diana Winston, Dawn Mauricio, Valarie Kaur, Asha Frost, Rick Hanson, Jay Michaelson, and Vince Horn.

“It was a wonderful introduction to mindfulness for me that had a good balance of background teaching and practice. Very clear communication. Thank you! ”

— S.R., Lawyer, Toronto

“I truly appreciated Ari’s breadth of knowledge and ability to coalesce academic, traditional, and pop culture references in the teachings, making them very engaging. This was a great experience.”

— F.D., Senior Financial Analyst, Toronto

“I found it easy to focus on Ari’s voice during the meditation, which I appreciated, and liked the visual aids provided during the lessons.”

— K.M., Executive Director, Toronto

“Ari blended a wide variety of meditation principles in interesting and engaging ways that layered my previous mindfulness work with new ideas that I found really thought-provoking. His gentle and enthusiastic presence made the class feel warm and grounding”

— R.J., Teacher, Toronto

Toronto Method Mindfulness Training - SPRING SESSION

Course Offering

** UPDATE: APRIL/MAY COURSE IS FULL PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR SUMMER TRAINING 2022 OR CONTACT info@kaplanlaw.ca FOR MORE INFO 🙏🏽

For over a year, I have been training as a mindfulness meditation facilitator in a program certified through the University of California at Berkeley. I have been meditating for a decade, and it is probably the most important skill I have ever learned.

As part of my professional training, we have a Practicum to create and deliver a mindfulness meditation curriculum. This is my Practicum.

I am looking for participants for my online group meditation program, which I call Toronto Method mindfulness. It consists of six weekly one-hour classes. Each session will have a teaching on a mindfulness practice, a guided and/or silent sit, and group discussion and debrief. There is no cost to participate.

The purpose of this course is to help you develop and habitualize your own mindfulness meditation practice. At the conclusion of the program, each participant will be asked to kindly fill out a short evaluation form to obtain real-time feedback about the training.

Course Particulars

Toronto Method Mindfulness with Ari Kaplan will be offered on Zoom, for free, as follows (CHOOSE ONE):

Sundays, 10-11 am ET on April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1, 8.
Mondays, 2-3 pm ET on April 4, 11, 18, 25, May 2, 9.

For more information, please contact info@kaplanlaw.ca or leave a voice message at 416.565.4656. Each participant will fill out an intake form prior to enrolment in the program.

Kaplan Law’s 2021 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office

Wishing you and yours a safe and joyous holiday season from Kaplan Law. For your listening discovery, please see below the 2021 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office which we have enjoyed during this past year. Spotify links are clickable in the PDF: here.

ICYMI, we also enjoyed Best of 2020 our Best of 2019 and Best of 2018 album office favourites.

This year, our firm sponsored The University of Toronto Mock Trial Competition, where undergraduates from across Canada develop skills in reasoning, advocacy and teamwork and learn about whether the study or practice of law interests them.

On behalf of Kaplan Law, our warmest regards,

PDF with links HERE

Kaplan Law’s 2020 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office #onmymothersrecordplayer

Wishing you and yours a safe and joyous holiday season from Kaplan Law. For your listening pleasure and discovery, please see below the 2020 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office which we have enjoyed during this past year. Spotify links are clickable in the PDF: here.

ICYMI, here are our Best of 2019 and Best of 2018 album office favourites.

This year, our firm has repeated a donation to support the work of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which works to advance the long arc of equality and justice and effect systemic change in our communities by challenging laws and educating youth on their rights. 

On behalf of Kaplan Law, our warmest regards,

For PDF: click HERE.

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📸 🪟 Kaplan Law : looking south down University Av. from Dundas St. W., above once tattle creek, st. patrick’s reach, later the armories then the ward, on land inhabited pre-colonially for over 10,000 years by indigenous peoples, and First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, Chippewa and Huron-Wendat people. I try to acknowledge this every day I spend time in my office blessed with this view and mindful of this land and my privilege and responsibilities; the Dish With One Spoon treaty (Gdoo – naaganinaa) between the Anishinaabe (ah-nish-naw-bek) [ojibwe] and Haudenosaunee (hoodt-en-oh-show-nee [iroquois]) and Mississaugas of the Credit, shares the territory and protects the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and Peoples, europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect. For information on Canada’s genocide of its people, please see the reports at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: http://nctr.ca/reports.php.

Kaplan Law’s 2019 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office #onmymothersrecordplayer

(from December 17, 2019 :)

For your listening discovery, please see below the 2019 Best 10 New Album Releases, which we have played in our office and enjoyed during this past year.  On behalf of Kaplan Law, our warmest regards,
Ari

Click HERE for PDF (includes clicks to Spotify)

COVID-19 and the Commercial Mediation Act: Deal With Your Frustration

(This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.)

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ONTARIO’s Commercial Mediation Act - which has been around for a decade - provides a confidential framework for settling pre-litigation commercial disputes and make them binding as a court order. 

COVID19 and government closure orders have led to many business activities being “frustrated” - no fault of your own. The rights and obligations that arise from contract frustration are unclear and often complex. That could make it hard both to reach a settlement and ensure that it’s enforceable.

“A settlement agreement registered with the court “has the same force and effect as if it were a judgment” of the Superior Court of Justice”

— Section 13(7)(a)

Working with a mediator under the Commercial Mediation Act ameliorates both problems. The legislation lets parties agree to give the force of a court order to a settlement reached with the help of a qualified commercial mediator — without starting a lawsuit.

Turn a Settlement into a Court Order: an Innovation

Jurisdictions in North America adopting UNCITRAL Model Law on Commercial Mediation.

“Commercial dispute” means a dispute between parties relating to matters of a commercial nature, whether contractual or not, such as trade transactions for the supply or exchange of goods or services, distribution agreements, commercial representation or agency, factoring, leasing, construction of works, consulting, engineering, licensing, investment, financing, banking, insurance, exploitation agreements and concessions, joint ventures, other forms of industrial or business co-operation or the carriage of goods or passengers”

— Section 3

The Commercial Mediation law is based on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation (2002). The Model Law is designed to “ensure greater predictability and certainty on confidentiality and enforceability of settlement agreements”. This is a legal innovation.

Ontario enacted its law in 2010, joining Nova Scotia, New Jersey, Ohio and Illinois as early adopters of similar legislation in North America.

What is and isn’t a “Commercial dispute”?

To benefit from the Commercial Mediation Act, you need to be in a “commercial dispute” with another party in a business context and have not filed a lawsuit. A commercial dispute is when you have an issue over business-like things including a financial relationship, joint venture, supply and exchange, goods and services, distribution and trade, etc.

Some disputes are excluded from this process, notably, collective bargaining. Also not covered are family law, residential leases and other personal disputes.

Do you qualify for the Commercial Mediation Act?

Ask your lawyer, because the process, though voluntary, can compromise your rights. Find out whether the legislation can work for you and whether you should subject any settlement to court-ordered enforceability. Ask about the provisions covering privacy and confidentiality.

Can Algorithms Solve Your Dispute?

Robots may not mediate commercial disputes

At the present time, robot mediation is currently prohibited. You cannot use “a computerized mediation in which the mediation is not conducted with an individual as the mediator” (s. 2(4)(b)). As such, your mediator must be human.

You are allowed to use technology to assess your bargaining positions and negotiate a resolution. We use secure video conferencing for online mediation sessions, which is also how Ontario courtrooms are operating during the COVID19. We also use virtual data rooms for without prejudice disclosure of information.

In summary, the Commercial Mediation Act creates an opportunity to save cost, time and other resources by voluntarily cooperating to resolve the commercial realities of your situation and make it binding. You pre-empt a litigation threat, restructure the relationship, or find an exit ramp and move on.

ARI KAPLAN, LL.M, Q.Med, is principal of Kaplan Law in Toronto and legal mediator with Mediation Benefits. He helped settle a $700 million health benefits plan dispute under the Commercial Mediation Act with an employer and insurance company. Ari is not a robot.

✉ ari@kaplanlaw.ca | Mediation calendar: HERE

Kaplan Law’s 2018 Best 10 New Album Releases played in the office #onmymothersrecordplayer

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Wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season from Kaplan Law. This year, our firm has made a donation to the Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust, which helps develop critical thinking around human rights in students and equip them with the tools to promote and protect civil liberties.

For your listening discovery, please see below the 2018 Best 10 New Album Releases, which we have played in our office and enjoyed during this past year.  

On behalf of Kaplan Law, our warmest regards,
Ari

1.  Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer
Genre: R&B. Art Pop.
Origins: USA
Themes: Technology. Gender identity. Love. Intimacy. Oppression.
Ari’s picks: Take A Byte, Django Jane, Pynk.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2PjlaxlMunGOUvcRzlTbtE

2.     Idles, Joy as an Act of Resistance
Genre: Rock. Art Punk.
Origins: UK
Themes: Brexit. Toxic masculinity. Mental health. Immigration.
Ari’s picks: Samaritans, I’m Scum, Great.
http://open.spotify.com/album/7BbRSUBwTB37ut0Ht3yAqt

3.     Tim Hecker, Konoyo
Genre: Ambient. Drone. Gagaku.
Origins: Canada
Themes: Negative space. Urgency. Majesty.
Ari’s picks: This Life, In Death Valley, A Sodium Codec Haze, Across to Anoyo.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3FYKctbabtp8tVrKVfE2el

4.     Muse, Simulation Theory
Genre: Pop Rock. Electronic Rock.
Origins: UK
Themes: Reality as Simulation. Sci-fi Fantasy.
Ari’s picks: Algorithm, The Dark Side, Thought Contagion.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5OZgDtx180ZZPMpm36J2zC

5.     Childish Gambino, This Is America
Genre: Hip Hop. Trap. Afrobeat.
Origins: USA
Themes: America, Society, Gun violence, Race relations, Awareness, Vanity.
Ari’s picks: This is America (Hiro Murai, dir.)
https://open.spotify.com/album/7arx9qPJexCsDz67El4qvk

6.     Chilly Gonzales, Solo Piano III
Genre: Modern classical. Piano music.
Origins: Canada
Themes: Contemplation. History. Pop.
Ari’s picks: Blizzard in B-Flat Minor, Present Tense, Be Natural.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5loG8MYHAOswDdeLAw0wqb

7.     Jeremy Dutcher, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
Genre: Classical. Folk.
Origins: Tobique First Nation
Themes: Colonization. Community. Nature.
Ari’s picks: Mehcinut, Essuwonike, Pomok naka Poktoinskwes.
https://open.spotify.com/album/568Hw1PX6K12BdqyFSBj1E

8.     Ezra Furman, Transangelic Exodus
Genre: Rock. Singer songwriter.
Origins: USA
Themes: Identity. Journey traveler.
Ari’s picks: Maraschino-Red Dress $8.99 at Goodwill, No Place, Psalm 151.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3avy9ZvrDRdDQKRcf1kJ6V  

9.     US Girls, In a Poem Unlimited
Genre: Pop Rock. Psychedelic.
Origins: Canada
Themes: Relationships, Self-Reflection, Fertility.
Ari’s picks: Rosebud, Velvet 4 Sale, Incidental Boogie, Rage of Plastics.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3NaBTnzFcmFsjEfluKhJ1Y

10.  Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Soundtrack
Genre: Rock. Americana.
Origins: USA
Themes: Fame. Devotion. Addiction. Loss.
Ari’s picks: La Vie en Rose, Black Eyes, Diggin’ My Grave, Shallow, Heal Me.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3edjzMAVB9RYRd4UcZBchx  

Yes, It Is Appropriate To Settle A Pension or Benefit Dispute Before Litigation Begins: Benefits & Pensions Monitor June 2018.

New Article: Yes, It Is Appropriate To Settle A Pension or Benefit Dispute Before Litigation Begins: Benefits & Pensions Monitor June 2018.

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I just finished this book on "conflict paradox"

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I just finished reading The Conflict Paradox: Seven Dilemmas at the Core of Disputes by Dr. Bernard Mayer.

Mayer identifies the dilemmas that polarize disputants into binary positions. Using Hegelian dialectic theory, he reconciles the paradoxes. In every dilemma, "each element of each polarity implies and indeed requires the other" as “codependent realities”; they are not "mutually exclusive alternatives". 

The seven paradoxes are:

“In essence, the conflict paradox is about the intellectual and emotional maturity that we bring to conflict. The higher the stakes, the greater our tendency to view these polarities in a more primitive or immature way - to believe that we must choose between one side or the other. ... We must seek the truth that encompasses both sides of these polarities.”

— Bernard Mayer

• Competition v. Cooperation

• Optimism v. Realism

• Avoidance v. Engagement

• Principle v. Compromise

• Emotions v. Logic

• Neutrality v. Advocacy

• Community v. Autonomy

I found the book insightful and refreshing. I especially appreciated Mayer's "reflections from practice"; case studies that illustrate the problems and how his views have evolved over 40 years of practice as a mediator.   

The Conflict Paradox is useful to dispute resolution professionals and to the parties of those disputes. The model also applies to psychology, politics, philosophy, business and science: "Paradoxes and dualities are part of every element of our lives".

Ari Kaplan