Jonathan Drimmer

Practice Areas

Business & Human Rights | ESG, Climate & Sustainability | Anti-Corruption/FCPA | Independent & Internal Investigations | White-Collar Defense | Energy | Commercial Trials & Litigation | International Arbitration

Career

Jonathan Drimmer is a partner in Steptoe's Washington, DC office, where he resolves complex cross-border challenges with the benefit of having sat in every chair at the table: senior legal officer for a Global 500 company, federal prosecutor, and seasoned advocate. He is ranked Band 1 by Chambers Global for business and human rights law and is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities in the field. For more than two decades, he has advised and represented a wide range of companies and individuals on anti-corruption matters. His practice spans the full life cycle for both topics, including developing compliance programs, conducting investigations, and representing clients in enforcement proceedings and disputes.

Over the span of 30 years, Jonathan has directed hundreds of investigations worldwide, encompassing a vast span of geographies and substantive issues. He has represented companies and individuals in high-profile civil and criminal proceedings related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-bribery laws, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFPLA), the US Tariff Act and other laws banning forced labor imports, the Trafficking Victims Protections Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and other anti-trafficking laws, the Alien Tort Statute, and similar matters. Jonathan has handled class actions in the US, Canada, and abroad, dealing with transnational torts, environmental cases, land controversies, and a variety of other similar areas. He has repeatedly represented companies and witnesses in congressional and parliamentary hearings related to human rights and anti-corruption issues.

Jonathan also has wide-ranging experience in helping companies manage multi-faceted dilemmas in overseas activities, developing and managing solutions that may encompass civil, criminal, regulatory, and political dimensions. He has designed a variety of human rights remedy programs and is particularly experienced in representing companies in non-judicial and quasi-judicial legal proceedings involving human rights and transnational torts. This includes disputes before the OECD National Contact Point disputes, claims to international human rights commissions, and inquiries by UN offices and agencies. He also has served as an expert witness in cases related to anti-corruption and business and human rights and has been appointed as an independent monitor or independent reviewer by companies and the UN on multiple occasions, particularly in relation to human rights and anti-corruption issues. Jonathan also has significant experience in assisting companies in developing best-in-class anti-corruption and human rights compliance programs, which include policies and procedures, training, due diligence, governance and all other program components.

He is a member of the US Federal Advisory Committee for Responsible Business Conduct, a senior advisor at BSR, the North American advisor to the Global Business Initiative on Business and Human Rights, and a strategic advisor to the secretariat for the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades and recognitions, including recognition as a Regulatory and Compliance Trailblazer and one of the 100 most influential in-house counsel in the US and Canada.

Previously, Jonathan served in the Justice Department as deputy director of the Criminal Division's Office of Special Investigations, where he led cross-border investigations, first-chaired prosecutions, and argued federal appeals. He was a partner at Am Law 100 law firms in Washington, DC, served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the US Solicitor General, and worked as a judicial clerk on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His past board memberships include the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Initiative and TRACE International.

Jonathan was also the former deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer at Barrick Gold, one of the world's largest mining companies. He developed a compliance program at Barrick that has become an industry standard and has been replicated by numerous companies within and outside the extractive sector. Aspects of this program were the subject of a 2016 Harvard Business School case study.

Professional Memberships

US Federal Advisory Committee for Responsible Business Conduct, 2023-2025

World Economic Forum, Global Future Council on the Future of Good Governance, 2022-2024

Advisor, The Global Sustainability Standards Board, 2023-2025

Member, OECD Expert Group on Preventing Corruption in Transition Minerals, 2022-2025

Compliance Editorial Advisory Board, Law360, 2020-2022

Board of Directors, Fund for Peace, 2019

Board of Directors, Trees for the Future, 2020-2025

Board of Directors, International Data Center Association, 2023-2025

Board of Directors, Trace International, 2012-2018

Board of Directors, Trace Foundation, 2018-2025

Subject Expert, Canadian Centre of Excellence for Anti-Corruption, 2017-2025

External Human Rights Advisory Board, JTI, 2019-2025

Board of Directors, Global Compact Network Canada, 2013-2021

Board of Directors, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, 2012-14, 2016-2018

Board of Directors, Transparency International Canada, 2019-2021

US OECD National Contact Point, External Stakeholder Advisory Board, 2018-2021

Member, ANSI US Technical Advisory Group for ISO on anti-bribery compliance, 2015-2016

Steering Committee Member, UN Global Compact Business for Peace Initiative, 2014-2021

Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, 2000-2025