Overview
Jonathan Kravis is an experienced trial lawyer who concentrates his practice on trials, complex litigation and high-stakes white-collar matters. Widely recognized for his trial advocacy skills, he is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Clients turn to Jonathan to address legal challenges at the cutting edge of law and business, including both civil and criminal matters.
With a distinguished career as a federal prosecutor and as a senior government official, Jonathan has served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Department of Justice and The White House.
As a prosecutor, Jonathan handled approximately 25 jury trials and led or supervised over 100 federal criminal investigations. His experience spans corruption schemes, fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, RICO, constitutional issues and civil and criminal litigation matters. He is the author of a coursebook on the law of public corruption.
Before Jonathan began working for the federal government, he worked as a civil and criminal litigation associate for a prominent Washington D.C. law firm. He clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court and for Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In his free time, Jonathan enjoys travel, cooking and cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies.
Capabilities
Industries
Experience
Trials, Complex Litigation, White Collar
Office of the Attorney General of the State of Washington – co-trial counsel in successfully challenging the proposed $24.6 billion merger of the Albertsons and Kroger supermarket chains. The litigation win earned a “Runner-Up” recognition in The American Lawyer’s Litigator of the Week column, and garnered significant media coverage in publications such as The New York Times, NBC News, Washington Post, AXIOS, Law360, Reuters and many others.
Google – served as co-lead counsel for in multidistrict antitrust litigation involving Google’s business practices and business model for its Android operating system and the Google Play Store.
Pacific Gas & Electric – served as co-lead counsel for in two criminal cases arising out of the Kincade and Zogg wildfires in California. Both cases were eventually resolved through civil settlements that included dismissal of all criminal charges against PG&E.
Applied Materials in interests as the victim corporation, following allegations that executives conspired to steal trade secrets from their employer and using them to launch a competing business to be based in the United States and China.
MGM Resorts International in obtaining dismissal of a proposed class action alleging that multiple hotel casino owners used software to compare rates and charge artificially inflated prices for the majority of the properties along the Las Vegas Strip, in violation of antitrust laws.
A social media platform in a matter brought by a digital content company, seeking to hold our client liable for applying a state-controlled media entity label to the company’s posts.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Fraud and Public Corruption Section, 2018-2020
Before joining MTO, Jonathan served as Deputy Chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. In this role, he was the lead prosecutor on United States v. Roger Stone in which the defendant was convicted for obstructing a congressional investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
U.S. Department of Justice, Public Integrity Section, 2015-2018
Prior to joining the Fraud and Public Corruption Section, Jonathan served as a trial attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he prosecuted public corruption offenses around the country.
Office of the White House Counsel, 2009-2010
From 2009 to 2010, Jonathan served as Associate White House Counsel and Special Assistant to President Barack Obama. In this capacity, he advised the president and White House senior staff on a variety of legal and constitutional issues. Jonathan handled matters related to the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Freedom of Information Act, liaised closely with Justice Department lawyers on litigation implicating White House interests and assisted with judicial nominations.
More
- Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, inducted October 2023
- Chambers USA, Litigation: White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations
- Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Performance for his work on United States v. Chaka Fattah, Sr., et al., in which a sitting United States Congressman and four other defendants were charged with racketeering conspiracy and related offenses for engaging in a wide-ranging corruption scheme, 2016. The award is the Criminal Division’s highest award for line prosecutors.
- Board member, Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit
- Member, Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court
Publications
- Quoted, “Judge Sentences Former Sen. Bob Menendez to 11 Years,” Politico, Jan. 29, 2025
- Quoted, “How Prosecutors’ Evidence Mistakes Could Let Menendez Walk Away from Corruption Charges,” Politico, Dec. 24, 2024
- Quoted, “News Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s Strategy of Blaming his Wife in Bribery Trial May Have Pitfalls,” CBS News, June 14, 2024
- Quoted, “Bob Menendez Expected to Get Personal in Corruption Trial Defense,” The Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2024
- Co-Author, Public Corruption, Carolina Academic Press, 2022
- “Honest Services Goes Abroad: Implications of the Recent FIFA Decision,” Corporate Compliance Insights, Aug. 13, 2020
- “The DOJ Just Made a Disastrous Mistake,” Washington Post, May 12, 2020
Speaking Engagements
- Panelist, “The Future of the Justice Department and the Rule of Law: The Challenges Ahead,” Federal Bar Association (Los Angeles Chapter), Jan. 26, 2021
- Panelist, “Trends on Domestic Corruption Enforcement,” American Bar Association, Oct. 30, 2020
- Panelist, “Politics at the Department of Justice,” University of North Carolina Law School, Oct. 29, 2020
