Giovanna Cinelli

Giovanna M. Cinelli is a partner with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, resident in the Firm’s
Washington, DC office, where she leads the Firm’s global International Trade and National
Security practice. Throughout a career spanning more than 35 years, she has counseled clients
from the defense, aerospace, financial, private equity, and high technology industries. She has
conducted hundreds of civil and criminal investigations (both unclassified and classified),
managed transactional due diligence for hundreds of investments, and counseled clients through
the complexities of export control changes from 1992 through the present.
Ms. Cinelli serves as an expert witness on national security, sanctions and export issues
involving discovery requests, trial proceedings and motions practice in the United States and
abroad. Recently, she led panel discussions sponsored by the National Security Institute for and
with bankruptcy and district court judges regarding the loss of technology through court
proceedings. In addition to her client and Executive branch advisory work, Congress considers
her a subject matter expert on CFIUS and national security issues. In April 2018, she testified
before the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade,
about revisions to the laws governing foreign direct investment in the United States – CFIUS.
On September 8, 2021, she testified before the US-China Economic and Security Review
Commission on emerging export and CFIUS concerns related to China’s global reach providing
a pragmatic and legal framework for the challenging national security issues embedded within
this relationship. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, she was invited to provide her perspective to the
European Union foreign direct investment offices, working under the new EU FDI regime, as well
as to METI’s Director General regarding Japan’s approach to FDI. She has presented before the
Keidanren, Japan’s business roundtable organization comprised of the leading companies in
Japan, on key issues related to CFIUS and export controls.
Ms. Cinelli is recognized as a global leader in the field, have written two book chapters
and dozens of articles, while practicing law and serving as a US Naval Reserve Intelligence Officer
focused on Soviet naval submarine issues. In addition, she has appeared on CNN’s Burden of
Proof and MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews as an expert in international technology
transfer, arms exports and related national security issues. She has been interviewed by Inside
Defense, The American Lawyer, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Law 360, Government
Investigations Review (GIR), Bloomberg, Bloomberg Law and The Capital Forum regarding the
impact of geopolitical changes on US national security and foreign policy interests.
Ms. Cinelli continues to be ranked by Chambers USA, Chambers Global and Chambers
Lawyers Research as a “Leader in Their Field” for export controls and sanctions and CFIUS, as
well as a 2012-2014 Washington, DC “Super Lawyer.” In 2019, Global Investigations Review
named Giovanna one of the top 25 sanctions lawyers in the US and in DC and in 2020 and 2021,
Foreign Investment Watch named Giovanna one of the top 10 US and Global Leaders for CFIUS.
She holds a Masters Degree in International Relations from the College of William and
Mary and an E.E. Certificate in National Security and International Security from the John F.
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.