Deanna Tanner Okun is an international trade lawyer whose former experience as a US ITC Commissioner and Chair informs her legal and strategic international trade policy advice. She supports companies where innovation confronts barriers, such as intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices, or regulatory hurdles.
Deanna’s practice involves all aspects of unfair trade litigation and trade remedy advocacy. Her Section 337 work includes all stages of litigation at the ITC from pre-institution consultation to post-remedy enforcement with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Her clients range from Fortune 500 companies protecting leading edge technologies to Small and Medium Enterprises confronting rampant infringement by foreign competitors. She also represents companies in Title VII antidumping and countervailing duty investigations before the ITC and Department of Commerce (DOC). Deanna’s work in trade remedy proceedings on behalf of U.S. companies extends to previously rarely used trade statutes, including Section 201, 232, and 301 investigations. Deanna participated in one of only two Section 201 investigations in the past twenty years, winning a successful remedy for her client. She works closely with contacts in the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the government to create innovative solutions to her clients’ legal and business challenges.
Deanna has extensive experience as a top administrator, regulator, enforcer, legislative aide and lawyer. She served two terms as Chairman during her twelve years of service as a member of the ITC. During her tenure as a Commissioner, she ruled on hundreds of cases involving allegations of patent, trademark and copyright infringement, antidumping and countervailing duty ,global safeguard investigations under the Trade Act of 1974, including investigations under Section 201 and the China-specific safeguard investigations under Section 421. Prior to her appointment to the ITC, she served as counsel for international affairs to U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski, Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and senior member of the Finance and Foreign Relations Committees, and practiced international trade law with a large Washington, D.C.-based law firm.
In 2012, Deanna was named the Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Association of Women in International Trade, a chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade. In 2022, for the tenth consecutive year, Managing Intellectual Property named Deanna one of the Top 250 Women in IP. Deanna is also on the 2022-2023 USMCA Binational Panel Roster.
