Adil Abdulla
Associate
Adil Abdulla is a commercial litigator whose practice spans complex business disputes, franchise litigation, intellectual property and technology disputes, estate litigation, and class actions. He acts for both plaintiffs and defendants and has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and the Federal Court of Appeal, among others.
Adil has a particular interest in disputes involving intellectual property, technology, data, and emerging AI issues. His scholarship has addressed patent damages, competition law, AI inventorship, copyright enforcement, and securities law. His broader litigation and academic work span civil procedure, competition law, constitutional issues, Indigenous rights, and access to justice. He is currently writing a textbook on Indigenous class actions in Canada for LexisNexis, and has previously published chapters in textbooks and peer-reviewed articles on a range of legal subjects.
Adil has lectured on a variety of legal subjects, including privacy law and consumer protection law. He has held numerous leadership roles in legal organizations, including being the Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Civil Litigation section, a member of the Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee of The Advocates’ Society, and a Director and Treasurer of a legal clinic.
Prior to joining Sotos, Adil practised at a Bay St. litigation firm working on a wide variety of commercial litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants. 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.
He is proficient in French and Spanish.
More About Adil
Adil’s interest in technology extends beyond his legal practice. He has credentials in cybersecurity, data analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence.
In his spare time, he enjoys singing, playing chess, and coding.
- Ontario, 2021
- British Columbia, 2026
- J.D., University of Toronto, 2020
- M.A. (Econ.), University of Toronto, 2020
- B.A. (I.R. & Econ.), University of Toronto, 2016
- Listed as “Ones to Watch” in Best Lawyers in Canada – Class Action Litigation
- Member (2024-2027), Ontario Bar Association Professional Development Committee (Chair, Skills Subcommittee 2024-2026)
- Member (2019-2021, 2025-2027), Ontario Bar Association Council
- Executive committee member (2026-2027), Ontario Bar Association Aboriginal Law Section
- Executive committee member (2020-2027), Ontario Bar Association Civil Litigation Section (Chair 2025-2026)
- 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 Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee (2025-2026), The Advocates’ Society
- Member of Young Advocates Standing Committee (2024-2026), The Advocates’ Society
- Treasurer and Director (2021-2025), West Scarborough Community Legal Services
- Volunteer, Pro Bono Ontario
- Member, Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association
- Member, South Asian Bar Association
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
- “Standing is a Nuisance: The Case for Abolishing Certain Limits on Standing for the Tort of Public Nuisance” (2025) 46 Windsor Rev L & Social Issues 61
- “A Theory of Patent Damages: Reconceptualizing Reasonable Royalties and Non-Infringing Alternatives” (2025) 38 Canadian Intellectual Property Review
- “Optimal Enforcement of Abuse of Dominance: The Case for a Private Cause of Action” (2023) Canadian Competition Law Review 34 (co-written with Julie Rosenthal and Arash Rouhi)
- “A Justice as Fairness Framework for a Revised Efficiencies Defence” (2023) Canadian Competition Law Review 88 (co-written with Kenneth Jull)
- “Incomplete Justice: The Costs of Partial Indemnity” (2022) 38 Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, 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
Other Publications
- “Lexology In-Depth: International Arbitration: Canada” (2026) (co-written with Allan Dick, Daniel Hamson, and Idan Erez)
- “Crafting Perfect Prompts for AI Legal Research” (2026)
- “Lexology In-Depth: International Arbitration: Canada” (summary) (2025) (co-written with Allan Dick, Daniel Hamson, and Idan Erez)
- “Key Metrics: Unlocking the Power of Court Data to Transform the Justice System” (2025) (as part of The Advocates’ Society Court Data Task Force)
- “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)
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Unconscious Bias” (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)
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Burnout” (2023)
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Retired Judges” (2022)
- “OBA Civil Litigation Section Insider: Legal Organizations” (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)
Lectures
- Lecture on financial crimes at Osgoode Hall Law School (2026)
- Lectures on class actions at University of Windsor Faculty of Law (2024, 2025)
- Lecture on access to justice at Lincoln Alexander Faculty of Law (2023)
- Lecture on cybersecurity law at Lincoln Alexander Faculty of Law (2021)
Presentations
- Chair, “Essential Skills Intensive for New Litigators” (forthcoming 2026)
- Panelist, “Bill 21” at Ontario Justice Education Network Summer Law Institute (2026)
- Panelist, “Social Media, Free Speech, and Student Rights” at Ontario Justice Education Network Summer Law Institute (2026)
- Moderator, “Crafting Successful AI Policies” at OBA TECHxpo 2026 (2026)
- Co-Chair, “Indigenous Class Actions” (2026)
- Moderator, “Introducing Evidence at Trial” (2025)
- Co-Chair, “Key Trends in Competition Class Actions” (2025)
- Moderator, “Primer on Equality Law” (2025)
- Co-Chair, “Fireside Chat on Advocacy” (2025)
- Co-Chair, “Avoiding Pitfalls in Settlement Privilege” (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)