Ben Kates

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT BEN KATES

I\'m an experienced lawyer who joined the Professional Regulation Group at WeirFoulds after serving as Discipline Counsel at the Law Society of Ontario. My practice focuses on professional discipline and civil litigation. My substantive legal expertise that spans civil, corporate-commercial, administrative, and regulatory matters. I have a reputation for providing excellent legal services, cultivating and maintaining trusted client relationships, and being a collaborative team member. I\'ve also developed managerial and governance experience working on volunteer boards, including in the not-for-profit and educational sectors.My experience in civil proceedings includes corporate and contractual disputes, as well as professional liability, media and defamation, and class actions. I\'ve acted as both prosecution and defence in regulatory matters. My clients include individuals, governments and government agencies, and corporate clients operating in finance, insurance, manufacturing, cannabis, media, and professional services, among other sectors. I have appeared at all level of Ontario courts, as well as the Federal Court and a variety of administrative tribunals, including in the following representative matters: Law Society of Ontario v. Harris, 2022 ONLSTH 4: Addressed the state of the law as it relates to the availability of a mental health defence in professional misconduct cases.Ontario (College of Pharmacists ) v. Aslam, 2020 ONCPDC 31: Prosecuted a professional discipline matter involving allegations of sexual misconduct.Romandale Farms Ltd. v. Markham (City), 2018 ONSC 2837: Represented the City of Markham in successfully resisting a motion to enjoin it from relocating the notorious “Charity the Cow” statueToronto (City) v. Lanova Outsourcing Corp, 2017 ONSC 5743: Raised novel Charter arguments while resisting an injunction on behalf of marijuana dispensariesI was called to the bar in 2011 and joined Stockwoods LLP after clerking for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. I\'ve appeared as a guest lecturer on the topics of judicial review and international criminal law at, respectively, Carleton University and the University of Toronto. I belong to The Advocates’ Society, and served on that organization’s Young Advocates’ Standing Committee from 2012 to 2018. I\'m also a member of the Ontario Bar Association, where I currently sit on the Administrative Law Executive Committee. I holds a BA (Hons) from the University of King’s College and an MSc from the London School of Economics.