Mr. Kaplinsky is a senior partner at Ballard Spahr LLP and Chair of the
firm’s Consumer Financial Services Group, which has more than 115 members.
In May 2016 Mr. Kaplinsky received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the
American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.
Mr. Kaplinsky devotes his practice exclusively to counseling financial institutions with
respect to bank regulatory and transactional matters, particularly consumer financial services
law, and defending financial institutions in individual and class action lawsuits and
governmental enforcement actions, including those involving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
He pioneered the use of pre-dispute arbitration provisions in consumer contracts,
has counseled numerous consumer financial services companies on this subject, and
has defended numerous companies that have sought to enforce consumer arbitration agreements.
Mr. Kaplinsky’s work in this area was featured in a front-page lead article
of the November 1, 2015 New York Times. On December 14, 2015, Mr. Kaplinsky received
the National Law Journal’s Trailblazers Award for his work in this area.
Mr. Kaplinsky is heavily involved in counseling and representing clients in a wide
variety of matters (regulatory, supervisory and enforcement) involving the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau. He was instrumental in having his firm’s Consumer
Financial Services Group launch a blog, CFPBMonitor.com, devoted to following the
activities of the Bureau. For the fourth year in a row, the American Bar Association
has named CFPBMonitor.com as one of the top 100 legal blogs in the country.
Mr. Kaplinsky has co-chaired the Practicing Law Institute Annual Institute on
Consumer Financial Services since its inception in 1996. He has been named as a
tier one banking and consumer financial services lawyer by Chambers USA since 2006, and has
been named in The Best Lawyers in America under financial services regulation law and banking
and finance litigation since 2007. He was named Best Lawyer’s® 2012
Philadelphia Litigation-Banking & Finance Lawyer of the Year.
Formerly an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and
Temple University School of Law, he is a graduate of the University of
Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and Boston College Law School.
Professional Affiliations
- First President, American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers
- Former Chair, ABA Section of Business Law Consumer Financial Services Committee (1986-1990)
- Member, American Law Institute
- Member, Consumer Bankers Association Law Committee