With a career-long emphasis on supply chain and complex commercial litigation issues, Julie provides a full suite of legal services to clients, with a special focus upon the transportation, cargo, and logistics industries.
With 20+ years as a transportation logistics attorney and litigator, Julie handles all legal matters for transportation/transportation-adjacent companies, including contract drafting and analysis, day-to-day legal consultations, regulatory advice, and complex litigation, often involving lost, damaged, or delayed cargo. She represents clients operating in every transportation sphere, touching all points of the supply chain across the globe, including shippers, brokers (3PLs), motor carriers, freight forwarders, marine and energy companies, intermediaries, NVOCCs, warehouses, ocean vessels, and software providers for vehicle tracking systems and autonomous vehicles, as well as consignees/consignors, and she also represents major corporations dealing with shipping or supply chain issues. She handles disputes involving both intrastate, interstate, and international commerce.
Julie works with clients who maintain in-house fleets, outsourced/third-party fleets, or both. With an international practice, she routinely assists clients with a combination of multi-modal issues domestically and abroad. Julie also handles freight loss and damage claims; litigates issues related to the collection of tariff and transportation charges; and drafts, negotiates, and advises clients on transportation contracts and insurance issues.
Julie routinely serves as national counsel for clients, providing ongoing consultation services and spearheading litigation across the country. She regularly advises on laws such as the:
- Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 14706
- Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(1)
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
- Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), 46 U.S.C. § 30702
- Montreal Convention/Warsaw Convention
- Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
- Federal Chemical, Natural Resource, and Waste Transportation Law
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCPA)
- Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 5101, et seq.
- Uniform Self-Service Storage Facility Act
- Uniform Commercial Code, Article 7
In recent years, Julie has developed a niche practice in autonomous vehicles. She is well-positioned to advise clients on the array of novel legal issues and potential liability presented by these vehicles and the technology behind them.
Commercial Litigation
A talented trial attorney who first cut her teeth on general business disputes and complex commercial litigation before developing her industry-specific focus, Julie has extensive experience trying cases to verdict in both federal and state courts as well as in private arbitrations. She continues to handle all commercial matters for sophisticated entities, including serving as national coordinating counsel, defending complex corporate litigation matters, drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, consulting on day-to-day legal advice, and providing ongoing regulatory analysis.
Arizona has repeatedly recognized Julie for successfully obtaining the state’s largest defense verdicts of the year. Julie is known for her ability to simplify complex legal matters into addressable issues and solutions with the ability to connect with both juries and judges.
With experience serving as first chair in more than 20 trials and arbitrations in Arizona and throughout the country, Julie knows how to position cases for success. She regularly positions cases for dispositive motion rulings to dispose of most if not all causes of action, incentivizing swift resolution.
Julie’s experience extends to serving as lead counsel in both bench and jury trials in federal and state courts. In both 2006 and 2015, Julie was counsel for Arizona’s largest jury trial defense verdicts, including commercial matters seeking in excess of $25 million and $150 million, respectively. Julie has represented clients in trials defending claims ranging from toxic tort mining actions to premise liability matters, sophisticated real estate ventures, and national and international transportation/supply chain issues.
After serving as chair and co-chair of the Cargo & Logistics, Autonomous Vehicles, and Transportation practices at a prior national firm, Julie joined Husch Blackwell in 2023 to enhance full service capabilities for existing and future clients. She recognized the solid caliber of the firm’s attorneys, allowing her to offer clients a truly exceptional bench. She also knew the firm’s broad geographic reach, with attorneys throughout the contiguous states, would allow her to serve clients around the globe. At Husch Blackwell, Julie offers business and supply chain clients a one-stop shop for all their legal needs.