Kathleen Hamann is an internationally recognized authority in the field of white collar enforcement and compliance matters. Drawing on her nearly 20 years of service to the federal government, in roles at the US Department of Justice and Department of State, Kathleen helps clients navigate the complexities of U.S. and transnational criminal liability and multijurisdictional government investigations.
Since returning to private practice, Kathleen has represented clients in a number of transnational matters, conducting global risk assessments, designing compliance programs, and addressing multijurisdictional investigations that required navigation of conflicting national laws. She also represents a number of clients in enforcement actions by the multilateral development banks, proceedings conducted under principles of international law. She also serves as an international compliance consultant for the African Development Bank.
While at the Department of Justice, Kathleen successfully prosecuted many high-profile criminal matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and designed and implemented the first FCPA self-monitorships and hybrid monitorships. Her casework as a prosecutor across a broad range of countries and industries included the design and negotiation of the first-ever simultaneous settlement by the DOJ, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the UK Serious Fraud Office.
Appointed as the DOJ’s international policy counsel on anticorruption in 2010, she represented the Department at the multinational Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Working Group on Bribery, where she played a key role in its evaluation of bribery law in Canada and the UK, and was invited to advise Chile on its corporate criminal liability statute. Kathleen was recognized for her outstanding work at the OECD by receiving the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Criminal Division’s highest award for employee performance.
Prior to joining the DOJ, Kathleen served as a Foreign Service Officer for the US Department of State, where she provided additional international exposure to a variety of jurisdictions, including Latin America and Germany. As the deputy director of anticorruption and governance initiatives in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, she developed and negotiated a range of international policies and commitments to combat international and transnational crime.
With her extensive international experience, Kathleen’s global perspective on white collar enforcement, compliance, and policy issues allows her to provide skilled representation to clients around the world, and to assist in developing robust, efficient, and integrated compliance systems.
Before joining Pierce Atwood, Kathleen was a partner in the Washington, DC office of White & Case LLP.
Kathleen speaks and writes regularly on issues such as anticorruption, the FCPA, multijurisdictional and international investigations, and conflict of laws. She is also an adjunct professor at American University Washington College of Law.
