OBA Council Member Responsibilities
Council members serve as ambassadors and liaisons for the OBA, communicating with constituents, identifying regional issues, and advising the Board. Their key responsibilities include:
- Advocacy & Representation: Raise regional and professional issues that would benefit from OBA advocacy, judicial system improvements, and professional development needs.
- Board Elections: Annually elect the Board of Directors.
- Meetings & Communication: Attend four Council meetings per year, submit agenda items, review materials, and share updates with members.
- Engagement & Outreach: Regularly communicate via email/social media, participate in regional calls, organize local meetings, and promote OBA membership.
Council members ensure the OBA remains active and engaged within their regions, fostering meaningful connections and opportunities.
Adil Abdulla
Biography
Adil is a lawyer at Sotos, working on class actions, public interest litigation, and commercial litigation. His current cases include claims against governments for systemic discrimination against Indigenous children and students with disabilities, claims against Google for anticompetitive conduct in AdTech, and claims against McKinsey for enabling the opioid crisis. He has published textbook chapters on civil procedure; peer-reviewed articles on class actions, securities law, competition law, and legal theory; and shorter pieces on intellectual property, franchise law, and legal ethics. He has also lectured on privilege, privacy law, and consumer protection law. He is currently the Chair of the Ontario Bar Association Civil Litigation section and on the Young Advocates Standing Committee of The Advocates’ Society.
Brent Arnold
Biography
Brent J. Arnold is a partner practising in Gowling WLG's Advocacy department, specializing in cyber security and commercial litigation, and has appeared at all levels of court in Canada including the Supreme Court of Canada. He acts as data breach coach and counsel for clients. Brent chairs the Cyber Security, Data Privacy and Technology Committee of the invitation-only International Association of Defense Counsel, and is vice-chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Privacy and Access Section. He is a past chair of both the Ontario Bar Association’s Privacy and Access to Information Law Committee, and the Steering Committee for the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy section of the U.S.-based Defence Research Institute (DRI). He currently serves on the Ontario Bar Association Council. He is a Director of the Canadian chapter of the Internet Society, a global organization devoted to improving the affordability, accessibility, fairness and security of the internet, and hosts its Net Positive podcast. He is also a member of The Advocates’ Society’s Artificial Intelligence & Automated Decision Making Task Force, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and the Canadian Cybersecurity Network. Brent served as a member of the court-appointed joint E-Hearings Task Force and co-authored both editions of the Task Force’s Best Practices for Remote Hearings. In 2019, he co-authored the Canada chapter of Chambers Global Practice Guide: Data Protection & Cybersecurity, 2nd ed. In 2022, he co-authored the Canada chapter of the Chambers Fintech 2022: Trends and Developments report. In 2024 he co-authored the whitepapers Artificial Intelligence in Legal Practice: Benefits, Considerations, and Best Practices and Data Mining, Algorithms, and Deepfakes Combatting Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation in 2024 Elections and Beyond for the DRI’s Center for Law and Public Policy.
Jody Berkes
Biography
Jody Berkes received his B.A. from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California and his B.C.L. and LL.B. degrees from McGill University’s Faculty of Law, where he was selected valedictorian by his graduating class. After articling and practicing in Vancouver, British Columbia, he moved to Toronto in 1999. In 2012, he formed a partnership with Apple Newton-Smith. Since her appointment to the bench, Mr. Berkes founded Berkes Law. Mr. Berkes practice includes the defence of individuals, as well as corporations, charged under the Criminal Code of Canada, as well as other Federal and Provincial criminal and quasi-criminal statues, and professionals charged before discipline and competency panels. He appears in all levels of courts in Ontario. Jody Berkes is the Past Chair of the Ontario Bar Association Criminal Law Executive Committee, the Legislation and Law Reform Liaison of the National Criminal Section of the Canadian Bar Association, as well as a member of the Criminal Lawyers Association. His cases have been reported in both Ontario and British Columbia. Mr. Berkes is certified as a specialist in Criminal Law by the Law Society of Upper Canada.
