PEM TSHERING focuses her practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration. She has acted as counsel for claimants, respondents, and as tribunal assistant in commercial and investment treaty arbitrations spanning a wide range of industries, including renewables, pharmaceuticals, defense procurement, energy and natural resources, construction, nuclear power, mining, finance, and hospitality. Pem has handled arbitrations under the auspices of the ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC, SIAC, LCIA, PCA, HKIAC, and KCAB rules. With a growing specialism in public international law, Pem has also assisted several international arbitral tribunals in inter-State cases, including territorial and maritime disputes.
Prior to joining Sidley, Pem served as the private law clerk to the Honorable Charles N. Brower, a leading international judge and international arbitrator, in Washington, D.C., working on investment treaty and international commercial arbitrations and state-to-state disputes. Before her clerkship, Pem worked for a major South Korean law firm in one of the highest ranked arbitration practice groups in Asia, where she represented clients in a wide range of commercial and investor-State disputes. Pem previously worked as an assistant legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, working on a variety of public international law and investment arbitration cases. Pem also worked for Dame Rosalyn Higgins GBE QC, the first ever female President of the International Court of Justice, on Oppenheim’s International Law: The United Nations, published by Oxford University Press in October 2017.
In her spare time, in addition to playing English football, Pem serves as co-host of Letters to a Young Arbitrator, a podcast that aims to bring together some of the world’s most seasoned leaders in the field (both arbitrators and counsel) to discuss the practice, art, and future of international arbitration. As the first (and presently only) Bhutanese lawyer practicing international law, Pem hopes that this podcast will serve as a source of access and advice for young (and aspiring) arbitration practitioners around the world.
In addition to her native Dzongkha, Pem is fluent in English, Hindi, and Nepali. She also speaks conversational Korean.