Jonathan Su

Partner

Washington, D.C.
jonathan.su@lw.com
+1.202.637.2290

PRACTICES

  • Anti-Discrimination & Civil Rights
  • Congressional Investigations
  • Litigation & Trial
  • White Collar Defense & Investigations

BAR QUALIFICATIONS

  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia

EDUCATION

  • JD, Georgetown University Law Center, 2001
  • BA, University of California, Berkeley, 1998

PROFILE

Jonathan Su, a former adviser to two US Presidents and a former Deputy Office Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, represents companies, boards of directors, and individuals in high-stakes investigations and controversy matters. Jonathan co-leads the firm’s Congressional Investigations practice.

Most recently, Jonathan served in government as Deputy White House Counsel to President Joseph R. Biden Jr., where he led a team of lawyers at the White House Counsel’s Office that had principal responsibility for congressional oversight and controversy matters at the White House and across the Executive Branch. Jonathan’s responsibilities included engaging with members of the Cabinet, as well as chiefs of staff and general counsels of Executive Branch agencies, on a wide range of matters. Jonathan was also part of the core team from the White House Counsel’s Office that was responsible for the confirmation process of the Hon. Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court.

During the Obama administration, Jonathan served as Special Counsel to President Barack Obama, where he advised on congressional oversight and controversy matters.

Prior to his roles at the White House, Jonathan served as a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, where he conducted 12 jury trials to verdict. Among his most significant matters, Jonathan secured convictions — through jury trials and guilty pleas — of the leaders of a US$78 million Ponzi scheme that affected more than 1,000 victims on the East Coast and in California (US v. Andrew Williams). He also led the Maryland component of a joint Maryland/District of Columbia federal prosecution of the largest embezzlement (US$49 million) in the history of the District of Columbia government (US v. Harriette Walters). In 2011, then-US Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein awarded Jonathan the US Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Prosecution of Fraud.

Jonathan’s work in government service and private practice has been covered in the Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press, Roll Call, The Hill, and the National Law Journal.

Jonathan has served in multiple management roles at Latham, including his previous position as Deputy Office Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office and Global Chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee. Jonathan maintains an active pro bono practice, and he was part of a Latham trial team that, after a week-long evidentiary hearing, secured federal habeas relief for an inmate on Alabama’s death row, for which the team received the 2022 Robert M. Dell Prize for Extraordinary Pro Bono Service. Outside of Latham, Jonathan serves on the board of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Earlier in his career, Jonathan was a law clerk for the Honorable Julian Abele Cook, Jr. of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and for the Honorable Ronald M. Gould of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In 2022, President Biden appointed Jonathan to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Jonathan is also a member of the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University Law Center.

EXPERIENCE

Jonathan’s experience includes representing:

Congressional Investigations

  • Live Nation before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
  • Starbucks before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in responding to requests from the House Judiciary Committee and the House Permanent Subcommittee on Intelligence
  • Ticketmaster before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in an inquiry regarding the live event ticketing industry and advising Ticketmaster’s president and chief operating officer on testifying at a public hearing before the committee
  • Mylan (now Viatris) in response to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee investigations, among others, regarding its EpiPen Auto-Injector
  • A US university in an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee regarding alleged political censorship
  • A financial services firm in an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee on ESG issues
  • A former senior US Department of Justice official in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee
  • A public company in an investigation by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
  • Multiple technology firms in response to information and document demands from various Congressional committees and members of Congress
  • Former senior US national security officials in response to investigations by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Oversight and Reform Committee
  • An industry group in responding to information demands from various members of Congress
  • A retail services company in responding to information demands from various members of Congress
  • A healthcare firm in responding to information demands from various members of Congress
  • A technology company in responding to information demands from a member of Congress

Internal Investigations

  • Special counsel to Seton Hall University in conducting an independent investigation regarding sexual misconduct allegations involving the then-archbishop of Newark, New Jersey
  • A national law firm to investigate allegations of misconduct by one of its partners
  • A public company to investigate allegations of improper personal conduct of a senior company official
  • A professional services firm to investigate allegations of self-dealing by a senior executive
  • An entertainment firm to investigate allegations of mishandling of company information
  • A consumer products firm to investigate employee misconduct allegations at a foreign subsidiary
  • A technology firm to investigate employee misconduct allegations
  • A professional services firm to investigate allegations of a hostile work environment 
  • A consumer products firm to investigate allegations of personal misconduct by a senior executive
  • A nonprofit organization to investigate allegations of employee misconduct

Government Investigations

  • Microsoft Corporation in the resolution of allegations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations by the DOJ and the SEC 
  • Western Union in a global criminal and civil resolution with the DOJ, the Federal Trade Commission, and FinCEN, and the successful completion of a three-year Deferred Prosecution Agreement
  • US Senator Richard Burr, then Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in an investigation conducted by the DOJ and SEC
  • Multiple individuals in an investigation conducted by the Special Counsel’s Office