Julie Bédard

Julie Bédard is head of Skadden’s International Arbitration Group for the Americas. She concentrates her practice on complex international litigation and arbitration and also advises companies and boards in internal investigations and regulatory matters.

Ms. Bédard represents clients in federal and state courts in the United States and has served as counsel in international arbitration proceedings held under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

She regularly advises clients on protecting their global investments under international treaties and provides strategic advice on drafting dispute resolution clauses in international commercial contracts.

Trained in both civil and common law, she is experienced in conflict of laws and represents clients in connection with litigation and arbitration proceedings throughout the world, raising disputes on governing law, jurisdiction, the enforcement of arbitration agreements, extraterritorial discovery and international judgment enforcement.

Ms. Bédard regularly advises and assists management and supervisory boards in corporate governance, internal investigations and U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters. Under the auspices of the corporate investigations practice, she has assisted with internal investigations and related corporate governance advice, including remedial measures and the implementation of corporate compliance programs. In cases, she represented or is representing:

• a Canadian energy services company in connection with several construction disputes;
• a Turkish construction company in a dispute with a sovereign;
• a Canadian energy company in a dispute concerning a Latin American investment;
• an Irish company in a dispute with an airline manufacturer governed by Swiss law;
• a Brazilian company in various potential litigation and arbitration aspects of a regulatory investigation;
• a Brazilian aerospace company in a federal shareholder class action involving claims of alleged violations of federal securities law;
• a Hong Kong-based shipping company in an ICDR arbitration and in obtaining a preliminary injunction in aid of arbitration;
• a U.S. company and its Peruvian affiliate, advising on the termination of an engineering and procurement contract;
• Brazilian companies, giving advice on dispute resolution mechanisms in nondisclosure agreements and share purchase agreements;
• a Chilean company in an arbitration under the AAA International Arbitration Rules against a Thai company concerning sale of goods; and
• an Argentine company in an ICC arbitration arising out of an acquisition dispute with a Brazilian company.

Ms. Bédard also regularly acts as arbitrator. Among other cases, she has acted as sole arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning a distribution agreement involving a U.S. company and a Peruvian company, and she was appointed in another ICC arbitration involving a manufacturing contract dispute between a U.S. company and a Chinese company.

She also was appointed in LCIA arbitrations and as a sole arbitrator in an UNCITRAL arbitration involving development agreements between a U.S. company and a Spanish company. She chaired an ICC arbitration governed by Romanian law and venued in Bucharest.

Prior to joining Skadden, she practiced as a litigator in Québec, Canada (1996-1998), served as law clerk on the Supreme Court of Canada (1998-1999) and taught LL.M. students at Columbia University (1999-2001). In 2001, she worked at the Court of Justice of the European Communities and at the Secretariat of the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce.