Hogan Lovells bolsters national security team with trade partner Elizabeth Cannon in Washington, D.C.

She joins us most recently from the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS) within the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, where she was the inaugural executive director reporting directly to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security.

At OICTS, Cannon assembled and managed an 85‑person multidisciplinary team responsible for administering a new national security program that governs the import, use, and procurement of information and communications technologies and services (ICTS) in the United States from certain foreign adversary countries. Cannon also spearheaded the development and implementation of regulations governing the import and sale of connected vehicles and related components under the ICTS rules, which have had an enormous impact on the automobile industry’s global supply chains.

Cannon was also a leader in the National Security Division (NSD) at the Department of Justice, with over a decade in NSD’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, including five years as Deputy Chief for Export Control and Sanctions. As a federal prosecutor in NSD, she handled some of the most high-profile investigations, prosecutions, settlements, and monitorships involving export control and sanctions violations.

“We are excited to welcome Liz to Hogan Lovells. Her background uniquely positions her to enhance our offering and further expand our enforcement and compliance capabilities across complex national security and trade controls matters,” said Janice Hogan, Practice Group Leader – Global Regulatory & IP. “Amid increasing geopolitical tension and instability, we expect the demand for national security and trade controls work will continue to grow.”

In addition to government service, Cannon served as Senior Counsel for Global Trade at Microsoft, where she advised senior leadership on the full range of national security laws and regulations, including export controls, sanctions, outbound investment, ICTS, and bulk data transfers, and assessed corporate and other transactions for national security risk. Her work included managing internal investigations and trade‑related due diligence, implementing semiconductor‑related export controls, and overseeing the company’s trade risk portfolio. Cannon also provided national security briefings to senior leadership and prepared executives for congressional and executive‑branch engagement.

Cannon’s arrival builds on our trade group’s recent expansion, including the addition last year of four former U.S. government trade officials – including partners Joshua Kurland and Mayur Patel, in Washington, D.C. The firm’s International Trade and Investment Practice also added partners, Renato Antonini, Eva Monard and Byron Maniatis, in its Brussels office.

“We anticipate growing complexity in national security regulation as well as increasing government enforcement activity around trade controls. Having a lawyer who knows the government’s playbook firsthand will be a significant asset for our clients, and Liz is the perfect choice to bolster our capabilities in D.C.,” said Ajay Kuntamukkula, Co-Leader of the International Trade & Investment practice area and Office Managing Partner – Washington, D.C.

“I am very excited that Liz is joining our global international trade and investment team. I am confident that she will elevate our best-in-class practice to serve our clients’ U.S. and international needs at an even higher level,” said Jonathan Stoel, Co-Leader of the International Trade & Investment practice area.

Cannon added, “It is an honor to join Hogan Lovells at a time when the international trade and national security space continues to expand and see significant regulatory change on a global scale. The firm’s ability to counsel companies across industry sectors in every corner of the globe on their most pressing challenges is a tremendous strength, and I look forward to working alongside colleagues in D.C. and across the firm to deliver meaningful results for our clients.”

Cannon received her J.D., cum laude, from New York University School of Law, where she was a McKay Scholar and a member of the Moot Court Board. She earned her B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

About the Hogan Lovells Washington, D.C. office

Since 1904, our lawyers in the nation's capital have been instrumental in assisting clients in resolving their most difficult commercial, regulatory, and legal obstacles. Hogan Lovells' Washington, D.C. office is the firm's largest office in the United States, with over 500 lawyers spanning all three of the firm's practice groups -- Corporate & Finance, Global Regulatory and IP, and Litigation, Arbitration and Employment. We operate at the intersection of business and government, with a deep understanding of how geopolitics, political risks, and regulatory issues affect clients across numerous sectors.