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.
Jonathan’s experience includes representing:
Latham recognized for our formidable team of crisis practitioners which includes some of the world’s top white-collar lawyers, who handle the highest-stakes cases.
Five recognitions showcase leadership across appellate, intellectual property, and white collar practices, and in a notable law student diversity initiative.