Julia Webster

Practice Areas

ulia Webster is a customs and international trade lawyer, focusing on disputes and regulatory advisory services. Her areas of practice include: trade remedies (anti-dumping and countervailing duties), customs, economic sanctions and blocking legislation, export controls, anti-corruption (foreign corrupt practices), AML, forced labour, government relations and cross-border M&A. She is head of Baker McKenzie's Canadian International Trade & Customs practice. In this role, she helps multinationals manage trade risk to optimize cross-border operations by aligning regulatory compliance with global supply chain strategy.

Practice Focus

Julia is a tested advocate in the boardroom and the court room. She advises Fortune 500 companies on complex supply chain structuring (free trade and investment protection agreements, valuation, tariff classification, origin rules), and business-critical sanctions and export controls compliance matters. Her industry experience spans food/agriculture, technology, pharmaceuticals, consumer/retail, mining/metals, steel manufacturing/fabrication, industrial manufacturing and energy.

She has a wealth of trade and commercial litigation experience, representing clients before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, the President of the Canada Border Services Agency, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and administrative tribunals across Canada. She has counseled companies on sensitive cross-border internal investigations, multijurisdictional legal proceedings, voluntary disclosures, trade compliance verifications (audits) and compliance with lobbying laws. The breadth and depth of her international trade and customs expertise establishes her as one of the most versatile advocates in the country.

She is a Certified Customs Specialist with the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers, a member of Transparency International Canada’s Legal Committee, and a sessional lecturer at Queen's University, Faculty of Law, where she co-developed Law 453: International Business Crime.

Professional Memberships

Law Society of Ontario

Canadian Bar Association

Transparency International

Canadian Society of Customs Brokers (Certified Customs Specialist)

Importers and Exporters Association of Canada

Personal

Queen's University (JD)

Bader College (Certificate in International Law, First Class Honours)

McGill University (M Arch)

McGill University (BA, MSc)