
Overview
Nathaniel Edmonds serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s litigation practice in Washington, D.C., which houses over 100 lawyers handling a variety of litigation matters, including internal corporate investigations, white collar criminal defense, anti-corruption compliance, sanctions and export controls, data privacy and cyber security, intellectual property and patent litigation, international arbitration, and antitrust counseling. Mr. Edmonds focuses on global internal investigations, in particular, anti-corruption matters and the challenges arising from multi-jurisdictional investigations into complex economic crime. He also conducts internal investigations and advises companies on significant sanctions and export control matters before regulatory agencies, including the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
As a former Assistant Chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit of the Fraud Section in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Mr. Edmonds assisted in the supervision of all FCPA cases in the United States and was one of the principal drafters of the first edition of A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, published in November 2012 by the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has been updated in July 2020 and is available at http://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/fcpa-resource-guide. Mr. Edmonds also specializes in anti-corruption compliance risk assessments and due diligence, as well as developing and overseeing compliance programs. During his nearly 10 years as a federal white collar prosecutor, Mr. Edmonds handled numerous complex economic criminal investigations and jury trials, including the FCPA and export control-related conviction of a major aerospace and defense contractor, the fraud and domestic corruption matters associated with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and various accounting and securities fraud matters. During his tenure at the Department of Justice, Mr. Edmonds worked with prosecutors, law enforcement and regulators from six continents on corruption matters, including as a U.S. Delegate to the OECD’s Working Group on Bribery, with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and as a member of the U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group’s Anti-Corruption Working Group.
Recognitions
- Ranked by Chambers USA Nationwide for FCPA (2018-2024)
- The Legal 500 USA, Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense: Advice To Individuals (2022)
- Recipient of the 2014 Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing
- Named by Ethisphere as one of the 2014 FCPA Attorneys that Matter ("Specialists - Private Practice")
- Named by Ethisphere as one of the 2012 FCPA Attorneys that Matter (“Government Stars”)
- Recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice for his investigation and trial successes, including:
- The 2011 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service related to the investigation and trial convictions in a fraud and domestic corruption matter.
- The 2010 Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention for his leadership in the investigation and conviction of a major international defense contractor for FCPA-related offenses.
Education
- University of Chicago, J.D. (cum laude); Order of the Coif
- Princeton University, A.B.
Representations
- Represented a European aerospace company before the U.S. Department of Justice with respect to allegations of bribery and export control violations that resulted in the largest coordinated anti-corruption resolution with UK and French criminal enforcement authorities, and continuing to represent them with respect to post-DPA investigation and compliance obligations.
- Represented a U.S. company under the FCPA pilot program, resulting in a DOJ declination with disgorgement and conditional non-Debarment from the World Bank.
- Represented a Fortune 20 company before the DOJ and SEC in connection with an FCPA investigation, resulting in declinations from both government agencies.
- Represented a Chinese joint venture before the DOJ and SEC in connection with an FCPA investigation, resulting in declinations from both government agencies.
- Represented a South American company regarding enhancements to its anti-corruption compliance programs, interactions with an independent compliance monitor and compliance self-reporting as required as part of DOJ and SEC FCPA resolutions.
- Prepared an expert witness report regarding the financial impact of an FCPA investigation and compliance failures.
- Conducting anti-corruption risk assessments for U.S. and non-U.S. companies to identify gaps in anti-corruption compliance programs and appropriate enhancements to minimize future risk.
- Providing FCPA legal advice and anti-corruption compliance counseling to leading Fortune 100 and Global 500 multinational corporations, including financial services, consumer products, technology, real estate, life science, aerospace, and defense companies.
- Conducting third party and transactional due diligence on multiple continents for numerous private equity funds, financial institutions, and companies.