Sara NADEAU-SEGUIN

Partner

Sara Nadeau-Seguin is an arbitration specialist, advising in international disputes, in ad hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings under the auspices of the main arbitration centres and in application of various substantive laws. She also assists her clients in arbitration-related Court proceedings, including for the setting aside of international arbitral awards. She also acts as an arbitrator and advises on other forms of dispute resolution, such as mediation. Her experience spans across a variety of sectors and includes shareholders disputes, energy, telecoms, aerospace and engineering.

Sara is also regularly involved in the negotiation and drafting of dispute resolution clauses, and has handled judicial proceedings, particularly before Canadian courts.

  • Paris (2016)
  • England and Wales (2012)
  • Quebec (2008)
  • Representing a major French construction group in an ICC arbitration arising out of an energy performance contract for the expansion of a thermal power plant in Cape Verde.
  • Representing a major aerospace group in a pre-arbitral mediation and in an ICC arbitration relating to contracts for the design and production of a constellation of low earth orbit telecommunications satellites.
  • Representing a Ukrainian company specialising in the production and distribution of electricity, in a dispute with the Republic of Moldova before the French Courts and the CJEU concerning the annulment of an ad hoc arbitration award made pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty.
  • Representing a Lebanese private client in revision proceedings of an ICC award.
  • Representing a consortium of three major French contractors against two American project owners in ICC arbitration proceedings relating to the construction of an industrial plant in France.
  • Representing a major French industrial engineering group in an ICC arbitration initiated by a glass manufacturing company based in Turkey for alleged breaches of a contract for the supply of equipment for a float glass line in Turkey.
  • Representing a luxury car distributor in DIFC-LCIA arbitration proceedings concerning the termination of an exclusive distribution agreement.
  • Representing a major Turkish-based investor in a potential arbitration against the Republic of Sudan under the auspices of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Charter.
  • Representing a group of Australian pharmaceutical companies specialising in the distribution of dietary supplements in Australia and New Zealand in UNCITRAL proceedings relating to the lack of performance of a distribution agreement.
  • Representing foreign investors in ICSID arbitration proceedings under the Energy Charter Treaty in relation to the alleged failure to provide fair and equitable treatment to investments in the renewable energy sector.  
  • French
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • Master of Laws (LL.M.), International Business Law London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Londres, Royaume-Uni – 2009 – Summa Cum Laude  
  • Bachelor of Civil and Common Law (B.C.L/LL.B.) McGill University, Montréal, Canada – 2007 – Great distinction
  • “Judicial Review of Investment Arbitration Awards A Comparative Perspective of French and Canadian Courts”, ICC Dispute Bulletin 2022, No. 1 (co-authored with Pierre Pic)
  • “Investor-State Arbitration, France, 2022“, International Comparative Legal Guides, 10 November 2021 (co-authored with Yann Dehaudt-Delville)
  • GAR Know how – Investment Treaty Arbitration 2022 (co-authored with Eric Teynier and Karen Azoulay)
  • “Climate change in International Arbitration”, Young Arbitrator Review, 2021
  • Canadian Chapter of GAR’s commercial arbitration know how 2019 (co-authored with Stephen Drymer)
  • “Canada Ontario adopts a new International Commercial Arbitration Act”, ICC Dispute Bulletin 2017, No. 3
  • “Quebec new rules on expert evidence”, Canadian Arbitration and Mediation Journal, November 2017
  • “The Illusive Standard of Proof in International Commercial Arbitration”, ICCA Congress 2014 (co-author)
  • “Commercial Arbitrations and Corrupt Practices: Should arbitrators be bound by a duty to report corrupt practices? “Transnational Dispute Management, 2013
  • “When bankruptcy and arbitration meet: A look at recent ICC practice”, Dispute Resolution International, 2011
  • LJA, speaker at a round table, “Investment Arbitration: what future in the EU? “, November 2022
  • VIAC Energy Conference, speaker, “Energy Transition Disputes”, Vienna, October 2022
  • Lecturer and Faculty Member, Federation of International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA), since 2021
  • ICDR Conference, speaker, Jura NovitArbiter debate, March 2022
  • Paris Arbitration Week 2021, moderator, “Roundtable on Canadian Arbitration law: your yearly checkup”
  • Paris Arbitration Week 2020, moderator, round table on the treaty on the dismantling of bilateral investment treaties between EU Member States, “The one that rules them all”
  • ICC Canada Annual Conference, speaker, Overview, September 2020
  • Kings College London, visiting professor, Certificate on International Arbitration
  • Benchmark Women in Litigation Forum, speaker, “Assessing the evolving landscape of cross border litigation”, Toronto (Canada), October 2017
  • Cambridge Arbitration Day, speaker, “Third Party Funding”, Cambridge University, Cambridge, March 2016
  • ICC YAF, moderator, “Retrospective on the year 2015”, London (UK), December 2015
  • Co-Chairs’ Circle Global Conference, Berlin (Germany), September 2014
  • Queen Mary Summer School for Hamline University, lecturer, “Certificate Programme in Global Arbitration Law and Practice”, July 2011 and July 2012
  • IBA Conference, speaker, Arbitration and Bankruptcy, Vancouver, Canada, October 2010
  • Sara is recognised by leading directories, such as WWL Future Leaders – Arbitration (2017-2021) and WWL Arbitration (2022), as “brilliant, thorough and hardworking“; “She always puts the client first, is easy to work with and stands up for what she thinks is right for the case“; “Her written arguments are brilliant“; “Sara has excellent communication and project management skills.
  • Legal 500 EMEA 2021 also reports: “Sara Nadeau-Seguin is smart, thorough and hardworking. Nothing was ever too hard and she always put the client first. Her written arguments are brilliant. Absolutely first class. Her legal arguments at the hearing were powerful and convincing.”
  • Co-chair, LCIA Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG)
  • Co-chair, ICC Canada Annual Conference
  • Member of the editorial board of the ICC Bulletin
  • Member of the editorial board of the e-newsletter on ADR Perspectives of the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada
  • Member of the Young Practitioners Committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration (ERA) Pledge
  • Member of the Comité Français de l’arbitrage (CFA)
  • Member of the International Arbitration Institute (IAI)
  • Member of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI)
  • Member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
  • Member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)
  • Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)

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