Giovanna M. Cinelli

Giovanna M. Cinelli joined Morgan Lewis in 2017. She is the leader of the international trade and national security practice. As a practitioner for more than 30 years, she counsels clients in the defense and high-technology sectors on a broad range of issues affecting national security and export controls, including complex export compliance matters, audits, cross-border due diligence, and export enforcement, both classified and unclassified. She has worked extensively with the US Departments of State, Commerce, Defense and Treasury, as well as Energy and the military services. She was a member of the Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG) from 1992 through 2008, holding the position of Vice Chair from 2006 through 2008 and was reappointed to the DTAG in 2014. She served on the Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) at the US Department of Commerce for eight years, ending her tenure as Vice Chair. She has been a member of the Virginia/DC District Export Council since 2011 and is currently serving her second term. Giovanna Cinelli has lectured and written extensively on international arms trade, technology transfer and export issues, with two book chapters and dozens of scholarly articles to her credit. Outside of her legal career, Giovanna served as a Naval Reserve Intelligence Officer specializing in former Soviet submarine platforms and national security and intelligence issues. In addition to her law degree from the Catholic University of America, she holds an MA in international relations from the College of William & Mary and an Executive Education certificate in national security and international security from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is fluent in French and Italian and resides with her family in Virginia.