Practice Summary
Adil is an associate in our litigation department. Prior to joining Sotos, he summered and articled at a leading litigation firm, working on class actions for both plaintiffs and defendants on topics ranging from social justice to digital technology. Since joining Sotos, he has worked on every type of class action and appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and the Federal Court of Appeal, among others.
He has published textbook chapters and peer-reviewed articles on a wide variety of legal subjects, including class actions and access to justice. He is the Vice Chair of the civil litigation section of the Ontario Bar Association; has sat on the executive of the class action section since 2020; is a member of the Young Advocates Standing Committee of The Advocates’ Society; and sits on the board of a legal clinic.
While in law school, he was the top oralist at the Davies Corporate/Securities Moot, the Editor-in-Chief of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review, a Senior Editor of the Critical Analysis of Law Journal, and an Associate Editor of the Indigenous Law Review and the Journal of Law and Equity.
Adil is proficient in French and Spanish.
In his spare time, he enjoys playing chess, coding, and learning about technology. He has credentials in cybersecurity, data analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence.
BAR ADMISSION
2021
EDUCATION
Juris Doctor (J.D.), University of Toronto, 2020
M.A. (Econ.), University of Toronto, 2020
B.A. (I.R. & Econ.), University of Toronto, 2016
More About Adil Abdulla
Practice Areas
- Class Actions
- Franchise, Licensing and Distribution Litigation and Arbitration
- General Commercial Litigation
Professional Associations
- Vice Chair (2024-2025), Ontario Bar Association Civil Litigation Section
- Executive committee member (2020-2024), Ontario Bar Association Civil Litigation Section
- Executive committee member (2020-2025), Ontario Bar Association Class Actions Section
- Executive committee member (2020-2023), Ontario Bar Association Information Technology & Intellectual Property Section
- Executive committee member (2021-2022), Ontario Bar Association Young Lawyers Division
- Executive committee member (2019-2021), Ontario Bar Association Students Section
- Member of Young Advocates Standing Committee, The Advocates’ Society
- Treasurer and Director, West Scarborough Community Legal Services
- Volunteer, Pro Bono Ontario
- Member, Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association
- Member, South Asian Bar Association
Selected Works
Textbooks
- Indigenous Class Actions in Canada (forthcoming by LexisNexis)
- Civil Procedure and Practice in Ontario, chapter on rule 53, 2021 CanLIIDocs 2046 (co-written with Paul-Erik Veel and Jessica Roher)
- Civil Procedure and Practice in Ontario, chapter on rule 17.06, 2021 CanLIIDocs 2004 (co-written with Paul-Erik Veel, Madison Robins, and Efua Gyan)
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- “Optimal Enforcement of Abuse of Dominance: The Case for a Private Cause of Action” (2023) Can Competition L Rev 34 (co-written with Julie Rosenthal and Arash Rouhi)
- “A Justice as Fairness Framework for a Revised Efficiencies Defence” (2023) Can Competition L Rev 88 (co-written with Kenneth Jull)
- “Incomplete Justice: The Costs of Partial Indemnity” (2022) 38 Windsor Y B Access Just, 2022 CanLIIDocs 1376
- “The Limits of Case Management: A Review and Principled Approach to the Court’s General Management Powers” (2021) 16:2 The Canadian Class Action Review (co-written with Paul-Erik Veel and Angela Hou)
- “The Circumstances of Change: Understanding the Bedford/Carter Exceptions to Vertical Stare Decisis” (2020) 78:1 University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review 1
- “Correcting Corrections: Resolving Confusion over the Public Correction Requirement in the Ontario Securities Act” (2019) 62:3 Canadian Business Law Journal 310
Blog Posts
- “Punish My Competitor: The Common Issues Trial in Metro Taxi” (2024)
- “Amendments to the Competition Act: Implications for the grocery sector” (2024) (co-written with John Sotos)
- “Two Many Steps: What Is The Test For Establishing A Common Issue?” (2023)
- “Who You Gonna Call? Not Former Executives” (2023) (co-written with Denna Jalili)
- “Dispensing Justice: Spina v. Shoppers Drug Mart” (2023) (co-written with Liisa Kaarid)
- “Now We Know It Works: A New Special Advantage for Selection Patents” (2022)
- “Culture Shocks of Joining the Plaintiff Bar” (2022)
- “Economic Duress” (2022) (co-written with John Sotos)
- “Reverse Class Actions: A New Frontier in Copyright Enforcement?” (2021)
- “AI Inventors: Do they Exist, and Does It Matter?” (2021)
- “Instructions to Spies: Are They Privileged?” (2021) (co-written with William McDowell)
- “The Battle Over TikTok” (2020)
Newsletters
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Unconscious Bias” (2023)
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Burnout” (2023)
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Retired Judges” (2022)
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Legal Organizations” (2022)
Lectures
- Lecture on class actions at University of Windsor Faculty of Law (2024)
- Lecture on access to justice at Lincoln Alexander Faculty of Law (2023)
- Lecture on cybersecurity law at Lincoln Alexander Faculty of Law (2021)
Panels
- Co-Chair, “Avoiding Pitfalls in Settlement Privilege” (forthcoming 2025)
- Co-Chair, “Fireside Chat on Advocacy with The Honourable David Doherty, KC” (2024)
- Panelist, “Navigating Consumer Protection Laws” (2024)
- Panelist, “Data Privacy Case Law and Legal Update” (2024)
- Panelist, “How Class Actions Lead to Behaviour Modification” (2024)
- Chair, “Avoiding Pitfalls in Waiver of Privilege” (2024)
- Facilitator, “Diversity Dialogue” at 15th Annual Class Actions Colloquium (2023)
- Co-Chair, “Avoiding Pitfalls in Common Interest Privilege” (2023)
- Co-Chair, “14th Annual Class Actions Colloquium” (2022)
- Chair, “Avoiding Pitfalls in Litigation Privilege” (2022)
- Co-Chair, “Divine Discoveries: Building a Great Case” (2022)
- Co-Chair, “Enhance Your Social Media Profile and How to Do It Ethically” (2021)
- Co-Chair, “Fireside Chat with Class Actions Bench and Bar” (2021)
Blogs
SOTOS LLP BLOG May 28, 2024Amendments to the Competition Act: Implications for the Grocery Sector
SOTOS LLP BLOG April 12, 2023Dispensing Justice: Spina V. Shoppers Drug Mart
SOTOS LLP BLOG January 7, 2022Economic Duress
SOTOS LLP BLOG October 12, 2021AI Inventors: Do They Exist, and Does It Matter?
Personal Statement
I am committed to helping clients get access to justice, especially in complex cases with power imbalances between the parties. In my spare time, I enjoy playing chess, coding, and learning about technology.