Floriane Lavaud

Practice Areas

Floriane Lavaud is a member of Debevoise's International Dispute Resolution Group in New York and Paris. Her practice focuses on public international law and international arbitration, in particular in the Middle East. She is admitted to the New York and Paris Bars, in addition to being a solicitor in England & Wales.

With over fifteen years of experience, Ms. Lavaud has represented states and multinational companies in a variety of jurisdictions and fora on issues of civil and common law, public international law, and treaty and contract interpretation. For example, she recently represented the State of Qatar before the International Court of Justice and the International Civil Aviation Organization, in addition to representing Qatari entities in both treaty and commercial arbitrations. She sits as arbitrator, including on the Qatar Sports Arbitration Tribunal, and serves as counsel in a broad range of international matters.

Ms. Lavaud maintains a very active pro bono practice, working closely with international organizations to defend the interests of individuals who have been subject to human rights violations around the world. Most recently, she has worked with Legal Action Worldwide to seek justice for the Rohingya before the International Criminal Court and for the Tigrayan people before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. She has also worked with the Clooney Foundation for Justice on a number of high-profile cases seeking the release of unlawfully imprisoned journalists.

Prior to joining Debevoise in 2007, Ms. Lavaud worked at Total, one of the world’s leading oil and gas companies. As a member of Total’s Exploration & Production legal division, Ms. Lavaud gained in-depth experience in the energy sector. Ms. Lavaud is also among the few civil-law-trained attorneys who served as a federal law clerk in the United States, and has therefore strong experience in U.S. litigation.

Ms. Lavaud currently serves in a number of leadership positions, including as Co-Chair of the International Arbitration Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA) and a Member of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) Advisory Board. Ms. Lavaud regularly speaks and publishes on international law-related issues. She speaks French, English, Spanish and Dutch.