Sabrina A Bandali is a Toronto-based lawyer who practices international trade and anti-corruption law at Bennett Jones LLP.

Sabrina graduated with a First Class Honours degree from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (B.A. (Hons) in Contemporary Studies and Political Science). Moving to London, UK, she completed the Graduate Program in Islamic Studies and Humanities at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, and was the valedictorian (ranked first) of the Class of 2008. Her fieldwork examined models of interfaith dialogue between Christians, Muslims and Jews in Canada.

Sabrina completed her master’s degree at the University of Oxford, focusing on Islamic Law and Modern Middle Eastern History (M.St. with distinction). Her research at Oxford explored the concept of maslaha (general welfare, public good) as a tool for legal reasoning in selected writings by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111 CE) and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209 CE).

Sabrina completed her law degree (J.D.)  at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law,  while also a Junior Fellow at Massey College. During this time, Sabrina studied at the Centre for Transnational Legal Studies, and contributed to the work of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights. She volunteered at Downtown Legal Services, and was a leader in the Faculty’s mooting program, acting as Co-Chief Justice of the 2010 Grand Moot and member of the Moot Court Committee. Sabrina also enjoyed considerable success as a mooter, placing first (Top Oralist, Top Anglophone Oralist) at the 2011 Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (Canadian National Rounds). In her final year of law school, Sabrina was a Senior Editor and Senior Board Member of both the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review and the Journal of International Law and International Relations.

Sabrina completed her articles at the national law firm Heenan Blaikie LLP, focusing on international trade and investment arbitration, as well as general civil and commercial litigation.

Sabrina has appeared in Nightwood Theatre‘s Lawyer Show productions of Much Ado About Nothing (2012) as Conrade, Twelfth Night (2013) as Feste, and The Comedy of Errors (2014) as Duchess Solinus.

She currently serves as Chair of the Ontario Bar Association Women Lawyers Forum.