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. Mr. Su co-leads the firm’s Congressional investigations practice.
Mr. Su draws substantially from his extensive prior service at the White House, as a federal prosecutor, and in private practice to advise clients in navigating:
Most recently, Mr. Su served in government as Deputy 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. Among other high-profile matters, Mr. Su advised on unprecedented executive privilege issues that implicated substantial litigation ultimately addressed by the US Supreme Court. In addition, Mr. Su’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. Mr. Su 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.
In October 2022, President Biden appointed Mr. Su to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
During the Obama administration, Mr. Su 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, Mr. Su 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, Mr. Su 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 Mr. Su the US Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Prosecution of Fraud.
Mr. Su’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.
Mr. Su also maintains an active pro bono practice. 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.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Su served as a law clerk to Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr. of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and Judge Ronald M. Gould of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Mr. Su is a member of the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University Law Center.
A sampling of Mr. Su’s experience in private practice includes representing:
Five recognitions showcase leadership across appellate, intellectual property, and white collar practices, and in a notable law student diversity initiative.