Martin Abadi

Martin Abadi is a Partner at Dentons, based in Toronto, and a leading legal advisor in Canada's transport and mobility sector. As a key partner in the firm's Regulatory group and leader of its Transportation group, his practice focuses on Transportation Law.

Martin advises domestic and international clients on regulatory, transactional and dispute resolution matters across all modes of transport (aviation, auto, trucking, rail, marine and aerospace), and across all applications (commercial, industrial and defence), as well as related infrastructure (including transit-oriented communities and smart city projects) and emerging technologies such as electrification and e-mobility.

He provides strategic counsel to clients navigating complex regulatory frameworks, market entry and cross-border operations. His transport practice includes specialised competition, foreign investment and market entry work relating to transport undertakings and products. His work spans high-stakes disputes and investigations, crisis management and compliance, as well as transactional support for mergers, acquisitions and reorganisations.

His regulatory practice comprises all areas covered by Transport Canada, including vehicle safety recalls, product and regulated asset class certification and standards, hazardous product transportation, air operator certificates, motor vehicle emission compliance, use of transport assets in the defence sector, and competition aspects such as cabotage rights, coasting trade, vertical integration, Shipping Conference practices, and marketing and pricing practices.

His transactional practice includes strategic risk management advice specific to Canadian market entry projects and cross-border M&A transactions for transport undertakings. He is recognised for his expertise in mobility and transport M&A and investment matters (aviation, auto, trucking, rail and marine), and also provides transactional advice specific to transportation services contracts, reorganisations, spin-offs and amalgamations. Most recently, he has been involved in assisting cross-border investment vehicles focusing on clean energy, electrification and electric vehicle infrastructure.

His representative transactional work includes advising a US SPAC in relation to the US$1.9 billion acquisition of a leading Canadian designer, manufacturer and distributor of electric medium- and heavy-duty urban vehicles; representing a US fleet operator as lead Canadian transport counsel in its US$2.2 billion acquisition of a competitor with Canadian fleet operations, including post-acquisition integration; advising an international private equity fund on investments in mixed-use development and construction projects; and advising a Canadian air carrier on a non-scheduled Canadian air carrier acquisition.

In litigation and dispute resolution, Martin has represented clients in complex commercial and regulatory proceedings at various levels of the Ontario and federal courts and administrative tribunals and agencies, as well as in commercial arbitration proceedings. He represented the successful respondent in Buhlman et al v. Buckley et al, 2012 FCA 9, a Federal Court of Appeal matter testing the Marine Liability Act's limitation of liability, and has advised shipping and transportation clients in a variety of dispute-related matters, including vessel arrest and sale, cargo arrest, casualty incidents, spill response, Norwich Orders and Mareva injunctions, regulatory investigations, insolvency proceedings, blockade injunctions and judicial reviews.

With advanced degrees in Economics (M.A.) and Business Administration (M.B.A.), Martin brings a unique business lens to his legal practice. Fluent in Spanish, German, Portuguese and French, he delivers culturally attuned advice to clients worldwide.

He holds a BA from Brandeis University, an MBA and an MA from McGill University, and an LLB from the University of British Columbia. He is recognised by The Best Lawyers in Canada for Aviation Law, Transportation Law and Maritime Law, by The Best Lawyers Global Business Edition for Canada, by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for Transportation – Road & Rail, and in the Lexpert Special Edition as one of Canada's Leading Lawyers for Infrastructure, and by Thomson Reuters as a Stand-out Lawyer.

He has been a Guest Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa (2016–present), was invited as a Guest Lecturer for the Maritime Law Course at McGill University (2020), and is a past Guest Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Denver. He is a past Chair of the Supply Chain and Logistics Sub-committee of the International Bar Association and a member of the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Transport Lawyers Association and the Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters.