General Counsel Jennifer Thornton advises Ambassador Greer and USTR’s regional and functional offices on all legal matters, in addition to overseeing more than 40 attorneys and trade policy analysts within USTR’s Office of the General Counsel and the Interagency Center on Trade Implementation, Monitoring, and Enforcement (ICTIME).
Prior to her return to USTR, Ms. Thornton served as Vice President for Trade and International Policy at the Business Roundtable and practiced law for ten years in New York and Washington representing clients in international arbitration and investment disputes. Ms. Thornton’s prior government service includes stints on both Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. She most recently served as Trade Counsel to the Republican Members of the House Ways and Means Committee. Earlier in her career, she spent ten years at USTR and in the Department of State first representing the United States in international investment agreement disputes and negotiations, before serving as Senior Policy Advisor and Counsel to the Deputy United States Trade Representative.
Ms. Thornton has taught courses on international trade and investment law at Columbia Law School, as well as the University of Texas and George Mason University Law Schools. Ms. Thornton holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, an M.Phil from Cambridge University, and a B.A. from Wellesley College.
