Adela Mall

Adela Mall is Senior Legal Counsel and Governance Officer in the Office of the General Counsel and Board Secretariat at Toronto Metropolitan University. Adela is responsible for the provision of professional support for the Board of Governors and committees of the Board of Governors. She also provides legal and strategic advice and support in the areas of litigation, internal audits, compliance, and enterprise risk management.  

Prior to joining Toronto Metropolitan University, Adela spent five years at the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) as a Professional Development Lawyer, Manager of Professional Development and Policy Lawyer, and Associate Director of Professional Development and Policy Lawyer. Before the OBA, Adela was Acting Director of the Internationally Trained Lawyers Program at the Faculty of Law, the University of Toronto. Prior to that, she was Legal Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182 and Commission Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar. Adela also worked as a consultant with Human Rights Watch, and with the Human Rights Clinic and the Human Rights Institute at Columbia University. She started her legal career at Goodman and Carr LLP.  

Adela received her Bachelor of Arts Honours (Political Studies) from Queen's University (1993), her LL.B from the University of Ottawa (1998) and her LL.M (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar) from Columbia University (2002). She was admitted to the Bar in Ontario in 2000.  Adela has her Certificate in Adult Learning and Development from OISE, the University of Toronto (2017) and her Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC.D) designation (2022). Adela is a member of the Council of Ontario Universities, the Canadian Association of University Solicitors, and the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association Ontario Chapter (Ontario Bar Association) Executive.