Paul Hastings Adds Assistant Chief of Department of Justices Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit In Washington, DC

March 11, 2013

Washington, DC - Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that Nathaniel Edmonds has joined the firm as a partner in the Global Compliance and Disputes practice, based in Washington, DC. Mr. Edmonds joins from the Department of Justice (DOJ), where he was an Assistant Chief of the Fraud Section, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit in the Criminal Division. At the time of his hire, Mr. Edmonds was one of the longest-tenured FCPA prosecutors.

“Within the FCPA bar, there are few practitioners with Nat’s combination of investigative experience, technical and legal expertise, and understanding of the international legal and regulatory environment,” said William Sullivan, global chair of the Litigation practice. “In an environment where compliance issues have become increasingly important worldwide, Nat’s experience working with law enforcement officials from six continents will allow him to distinguish himself to the growing number of companies facing investigations by multiple enforcement agencies around the world,” he added.

“Nat’s prosecutorial experience and connections to US government agencies will complement the diverse and extensive range of regulatory and enforcement experts in our DC office and across our global network,” said Barbara Brown, Washington, DC office chair. “We are looking forward to working with Nat to advise our clients on a range of compliance issues and how best to address the challenges facing companies operating internationally,” she added.

In recent years, Mr. Edmonds was responsible for directly supervising up to half of the DOJ’s investigations into transnational bribery. He also drafted portions of the FCPA Resource Guide published in November 2012, which details the contours of the FCPA legal regime, the policy positions underlying the enforcement strategy, and the relevance of past enforcement positions taken by the DOJ and the SEC. During Mr. Edmonds’ tenure, the DOJ has investigated and resolved more cases against corporations and has charged, tried, and convicted more individuals under the FCPA than in any other similar period in history.

Mr. Edmonds joined the Fraud Section through the Attorney General’s Honors Program and during his nearly ten years as a federal white-collar prosecutor, Mr. Edmonds has 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. He has investigated and prosecuted all stages of complex white-collar crime, with a particular emphasis on FCPA matters. Mr. Edmonds has directly and indirectly supervised prosecutors in over 150 FCPA investigations, led high-profile investigations of some of the most important cases of the past several years, and partnered with numerous domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies to coordinate ongoing investigations and identify areas of mutual interest on corruption policy issues. Mr. Edmonds also has focused on how to effectively build cooperation between law enforcement in multiple countries through his efforts as part of the U.S. delegation to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s Working Group on Bribery and the U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group’s Anti-Corruption Working Group. Most recently in February 2013, Mr. Edmonds helped to organize a program for over 130 law enforcement officials from over 30 countries discussing best practices for investigating transnational bribery and how to handle multi-jurisdictional enforcement.

Mr. Edmonds’ arrival at Paul Hastings continues the expansion of the Litigation practice in DC, with the addition of partner Behnam Dayanim to the firm’s Global Compliance and Disputes and Global Banking and Payment Systems practice groups in October and Antitrust and Competition practice partner MJ Moltenbrey joining the firm in June.

Paul Hastings LLP is a leading global law firm with offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. We provide innovative legal solutions to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit www.paulhastings.com for more information.