Overview

Biographies

Miller & Chevalier's government affairs practice represents clients before a broad range of government entities. The firm's government affairs lawyers and professionals have the knowledge and experience to help clients anticipate and influence government regulatory and legislative developments, as well as respond strategically to major changes in policy.  We can also help companies to navigate in situations where laws and policies are evolving. 
Our practice focuses on international trade, investment policy and trade disputes; tax, including international tax; energy policy; and employee benefits and executive compensation.  We offer clients more than just critical access to key decision-makers - we also provide the substantive expertise necessary to present our clients' issues credibly and help them to advance their business objectives.  We help our clients to advance their strategies by working with policy makers to draft and implement complex bills, rules, regulations, international agreements, and treaty provisions.

Miller & Chevalier's government affairs practice features lawyers and professionals with a unique mix of government, technical and industry experience. Our professionals have served in:

• The White House and the Executive Office of the President;
• Congress;
• The Departments of State, Treasury, Defense, and Homeland Security;
• The Office of the United States Trade Representative;
• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS);
• The U.S. Customs Service;
• The U.S. International Trade Commission; and
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Our government affairs professionals work in an integrated manner with our trade, tax and employee benefits advisors and litigators to provide our clients with legally sound, politically and economically astute, and effective advice and representation. In our areas of policy expertise, we have critical depth in a broad range of industry sectors, including agriculture and agribusiness, healthcare, defense, food, energy and natural resources, manufacturing, and financial services.

International Trade and Investment Policy

Miller & Chevalier is ranked among the top international trade practices in the U.S. by Chambers USA.  Members of our firm have been engaged in developing or implementing all recent major trade legislation and regulation, trade agreements, dispute settlement rules, and overseas investment policies. Our trade policy professionals provide the full range of government affairs services.  In addition, we are often called up to coordinate the Executive Branch's response to foreign government actions that affect client interests in the United States or abroad.  We provide trade and investment policy services helping corporate and industry clients effectively penetrate and compete in foreign markets, collaborating with high quality foreign law firms that complement our expertise when necessary.  Furthermore, we help foreign governments devise effective trade and investment policy strategies in relation to the United States and other governments.  We also provide counsel and representation regarding U.S. foreign and international financial institution policies and programs.  Finally, we provide advice, representation and counsel in trade and investment agreement disputes.

Members of the practice have held senior positions in all major U.S. government entities with authority over international trade, investment and foreign policy, including:

• General Counsel and Counselor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce;
• Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for North American Affairs;
• Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs;
• Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources;
• Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Multilateral Trade Negotiations;
• Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Latin American Affairs;
• Special Assistant to the U.S. Trade Representative;
• Associate General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative;
• Legal Advisor, Office of the United States Trade Representative, Geneva, Switzerland;
• General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
• Director, Office of Policy, Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce;
• International Trade Counsel, U.S. Senate Finance Committee;
• International Trade and Agriculture Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Senator;
• Chief Counsel, U.S. Customs Service;
• Assistant to the Chairman, U.S. International Trade Commission; and
• Special Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

Examples of our recent projects include:

• Working with the leading U.S. business coalition to generate support for and passage of the U.S. - Peru, U.S. - Panama and U.S. - Colombia FTA's;
• Advising and representing a major food company on trade policy and market access developments in Mexico;
• Advising and representing a major technology industry in its efforts to penetrate a Chinese regulatory regime;
• Advising and representing a major food industry association on all germane trade policy issues in the U.S. and abroad;
• Advising a large technology manufacturing company regarding penetrating a regulatory regime in Brazil;
• Working with a coalition of companies to pursue and obtain passage of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2006);
• Advising the Panamanian Government with respect to agricultural issues in the U.S. - Panama FTA;
• Advising an Asian joint-venture transportation company to appeal its delisting from an export controls list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury;
• Developing tax legislation for a major U.S. industry coalition to replace the Foreign Sales Corporation Tax with a WTO-compliant provision of law;
• Coordinating a coalition of agribusiness companies and associations and developing legislative language to ensure that implementation of federal law pertaining to an agriculture product market promotion program complies with U.S. trade obligations;
• Coordinating a coalition of companies interested in proposed tariff legislation;
• Guiding a company through an Executive Branch proceeding regarding the Generalized System of Preferences; and
• Representing a major lumber producer in the largest antidumping case to date, before the Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission, in connection with various World Trade Organization cases and other proceedings connected to the U.S. - Canada softwood lumber dispute.

Click here to read more about our Trade Policy Practice.

Tax Policy

Miller & Chevalier's tax professionals bring together the unique combination of substantive tax knowledge with government, corporate, and private practice experience that is necessary to anticipate and influence changes in policies that impact the firm's clients.  The firm has been consistently ranked among the top tax practices in the United States by Chambers USA.  Our tax policy practitioners work in close coordination with our leading tax controversy and tax planning practices to represent our clients' interests in the legislative and administrative arenas.  We assist our clients in achieving sound and practical solutions with respect to highly technical matters as well as with respect to major policy issues having national and international implications.

Since the firm was established, our tax professionals have participated in the development and implementation of every significant piece of federal tax legislation, either while in government or in private practice. This experience allows us to work closely with our clients to evaluate political risks and opportunities, establish their legislative objectives, and devise strategies to achieve these objectives, whether to optimize opportunities or mitigate risks associated with legislative changes. These legislative objectives may include obtaining beneficial legislation, defending against potentially adverse legislation or seeking clarifications or technical corrections to existing legislation.  To achieve these objectives, we are involved in all facets of the legislative process, including drafting proposed legislation and proposed committee report language and preparing testimony for congressional hearings.

Once legislation has been enacted, we represent our clients' interests before the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service as they develop relevant regulations and other administrative guidance.  In this regard, we provide suggested guidance to Treasury and Internal Revenue Service officials, as well as written comments and public testimony on proposed guidance.  In addition, we represent clients seeking guidance from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service in specific issues or in connection with certain transactions. We also monitor and analyze pending legislative and regulatory proposals and provide advice concerning the potential effects of such proposals on our clients.

Our tax policy professionals include lawyers who have served in senior tax positions in Congress and the Administration, including:

• Majority Tax Counsel, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives;
• Tax Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Senator;
• Assistant Chief of Staff, Joint Committee on Taxation;
• Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service;
• Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of the Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service;
• Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting), Internal Revenue Service;
• Attorney-Advisor, Office of the Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service;
• Special Assistant for Fringe Benefits, Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations), Internal Revenue Service;
• Tax Legislative Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury;
• Associate International Tax Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury; and
• Tax Assistant, Office of the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice.

Our clients include U.S. and foreign companies as well as trade associations, coalitions and foreign governments.  We represent clients in a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, energy, agricultural, high technology, consumer products, financial services, and pharmaceuticals. 

Click here to read more about our Tax Practice.

Energy Policy

The firm has had energy policy as a key focus for more than 30 years.  This area of concentration has concerned a large array of energy sources ranging from traditional fossil fuels to nonconventional and renewable sources.  The firm has participated in the development of significant energy policy legislation and regulatory implementation of that legislation throughout the course of its involvement in this practice.  The practice, moreover, is integrated with the firm's tax and trade policy activities, and there is considerable overlap among these areas of specialization.

While the practice has spanned the gamut of disparate projects, its principal focus has been on policy issues relating to the development of commercial nuclear energy.  For example, the firm was a major participant in the development of revisions to the nuclear reactor licensing process that occurred in the early 1990's.  Those revisions are likely to be instrumental in new licensing activity expected to be associated with a "nuclear renaissance" in the United States.  The firm has also been active in the development of nuclear waste policy initiatives at the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that can be expected to have considerable significance for such nuclear reactor expansion.

The firm has also been significantly involved on the international side of nuclear development, focusing on such issues as plutonium disposition in Russia and the United States, the U.S.-Russian Highly Enriched Uranium Agreement, U.S. nuclear export licensing matters, new agreements for cooperation with nuclear trading partners, and the Bush Administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.

The firm expects nuclear energy policy matters to constitute an expanding portion of its government relations activities as the country focuses more intensively on a larger role for nuclear energy is its energy mix.

Energy policy professionals at the firm have served previously in such government positions as:

• General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
• Director of Nonproliferation and Export Controls, U.S. National Security Council;
• Director of Regulatory Policy Division,  U.S. Department of Commerce;
• Special Assistant to a Commissioner, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
• Special Assistant to Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs;
• Majority Tax Counsel, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives;
• Legislative Assistant specializing in energy issues to a U.S. Senator;
• Export Control and International Trade Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Senator; and
• Agriculture Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Senator.

Employee Benefits

Our employee benefits policy practice provides strategic representation to clients before Congress and the federal agencies on health plan, retirement plan, executive compensation, and payroll practices.  We work closely with our clients to understand their needs and outline a strategy for helping them achieve their objectives. In some cases we work on an issue at a discreet stage in the legislative process, e.g., obtaining clarifying committee report language; at other times we will assist with an issue from the early phases of consideration by Congress through to the final rulemaking by the appropriate agency.  Throughout, we focus on helping our clients navigate the political process to best advance their companies' business strategies and objectives. 

With respect to legislative matters, we summarize and help clients analyze proposed legislation, draft legislative language, assist clients in developing policy positions and draft position papers, prepare testimony for congressional hearings, and represent clients during meetings with Congressional members or staff.  We also have experience managing and representing larger coalitions of companies who choose to work together to advance a common goal on a specific issue.  Our lawyers have worked closely with the Senate Committees on Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions as well as the House Committees on Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce. 

Our employee benefits policy practice also assists clients with regulatory matters, particularly as the agencies are developing new guidance or policy positions.   To this end, we have provided written comments on proposed rulemaking, testified at public hearings, represented clients in meetings with agency staff, and worked to resolve specific issues of interpretation on behalf of our clients.  In this regard we have worked closely with the Department of Treasury, IRS, Department of Labor, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

Members of this practice include lawyers with a variety of Government/policy experience.

Our practice features:

• A former Special Assistant for Fringe Benefits in the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations);
• A former Deputy Chief Counsel (Operations) for the Internal Revenue Service;
• A former Majority Tax Counsel for the House Committee on Ways & Means; and
• A lawyer who served as Health Policy Legal Counsel for the American Benefits Council, among others.

Click here to read more about our Employee Benefits Practice.

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Focus on Trade Policy - Why Aren’t Services Getting the Attention They Deserve?
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Focus on Trade Policy - U.S. Foreign Direct Investment Review - FINSA, Executive Order 11858 and the Road Ahead
Author(s): Larry Christensen

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