Kelley Drye added four attorneys from Sandler Travis to its export controls and economic sanctions team, the firm announced. The new additions are partner Kristine Pirnia, special counsel Catherine Cayce, associates Narges Kahvazadeh and Sanam Bhalla, along with non-attorney export controls specialist Molly Stevens.
Holland & Knight opened a new national security and defense industry group that will be led by Washington, D.C.-based partner and former general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Jason Klitenic. Other members of the group include former members of the U.S. intelligence community, federal law enforcement officers from DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and the Commerce Department. The group will focus on issues involving national security, including U.S. defense and intelligence contracting, international trade and cross-border regulatory compliance and defense appropriations.
Former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has joined the Council on Foreign Relations as a distinguished fellow, the think tank announced this week. Raimondo will co-chair a new CFR task force on economic security and will also work on issues related to economic policy, U.S. competitiveness and artificial intelligence.
Ivan Kanapathy, former senior vice president at Beacon Global Strategies, has been named the senior director for Asia at the National Security Council, the firm announced Jan. 21. Kanapathy, who served on the NSC under the first Trump administration, has voiced support for U.S. unilateral and extraterritorial trade controls against China (see 2306160043) and has criticized the Treasury Department for being slow to update its Non-Specially Designated Nationals Chinese Military Industrial Complex List (see 2402130050).
Jeremy Pelter will serve as the acting Commerce Department secretary and David Lebryk will serve as the acting Treasury Department secretary as nominees Howard Luntnick and Scott Bessent, respectively, look to be confirmed for those roles by the Senate, according to the White House. Pelter previously served as acting undersecretary for the Bureau of Industry and Security when President Joe Biden first took office in 2021 2101290059 and 2109080062). Lebryk previously served as Treasury’s fiscal assistant secretary.
John Goodrich, founder of trade compliance consultancy J.D. Goodrich and Associates, retired as of Jan. 1, according to his LinkedIn profile. The company’s website says that it’s no longer taking new clients.
Philip Luck is leaving his role as the State Department’s deputy chief economist to become the new Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the think tank announced this week. Luck will focus on “issues at the intersection of economics and national security planning,” CSIS said, including U.S. technology competition and supply chain resilience. He will replace outgoing chair Bill Reinsch, a former Bureau of Industry and Security official during the Bill Clinton administration, who will continue to do research at CSIS.
Gina Sokolovs, a former financial crime compliance associate with financial services firm Societe Generale, has joined the Office of Foreign Assets Control as a sanctions implementation and investigation specialist, she announced on LinkedIn. Sokolovs previously worked as a policy consultant with DHS in 2021.
Former Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo has left the Treasury Department to begin new fellowship roles with Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics and Center on Global Energy Policy, the school announced on LinkedIn. As Treasury’s top official under Secretary Janet Yellen, Adeyemo helped oversee the Biden administration’s implementation of sanctions against Russia, the price cap on Russian oil, and more.
Alejo Cabranes, former senior policy adviser with the Treasury Department, is joining DOJ as an attorney in its National Security Division, he announced on LinkedIn. Cabranes has worked at Treasury since 2023, where he helped implement sanctions and anti-money laundering policies.