Liz Abraham

Liz Abraham is counsel in White & Case's international trade practice.

Before joining White & Case, Liz served at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), most recently as the Director of the International Policy Office. In this role, she led country policy teams in analyzing comprehensive information on adversarial alignment, developed strategies to implement export control policies, and counseled BIS senior leadership on export policy implementation related to country policy and strategic planning. Liz coordinated with the National Security Council on implementing export control policy as part of bilateral engagements. She also represented BIS in domestic and international engagements, including bilateral and multilateral government-to-government dialogues and industry outreach events. Liz managed teams that developed one-fourth of BIS rules published in 2024 and drafted Entity List packages covering hundreds of entities.

Prior to her role at BIS, Liz served as a Trial Attorney in the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)'s National Security Division (NSD). There, she advised prosecutors and investigators on export control and sanctions cases, collaborated with intelligence agencies to manage equities in criminal prosecutions, and coordinated with international partners to disrupt proliferation and procurement networks. Liz was instrumental in drafting court filings and legal briefs related to managing classified information in criminal prosecutions. She also led training sessions on export control investigations and prosecutions for federal prosecutors, criminal investigators, and foreign governments.

Before her tenure at the DOJ's NSD, Liz was Senior Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of General Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security. She provided legal advice on U.S. sanctions programs and for the President's Export Control Initiative in transitioning munitions items to the Commerce Department. Liz represented BIS in export control administrative enforcement actions and related settlement negotiations and analyzed Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) notices for export control concerns. She also represented the legal office in interagency meetings with foreign delegations to discuss the implementation of export controls and provided legal guidance on regulatory and enforcement matters related to sanctions, oil and gas exports, and encryption.

Liz clerked for the Honorable J. Thomas Marten on the U.S. District Court of Kansas.