WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 20, 2005) – Venable LLP has added leading federal tax attorney E. Ray Beeman as a partner in its Washington office. For the past four years, Mr. Beeman has served as legislation counsel for the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation. Previously, he worked for a Big Four accounting firm as a tax advisor focusing on financial institutions and products.
Mr. Beeman was involved in evaluating federal tax legislative proposals for the Joint Committee, working primarily with the House Ways & Means Committee, the Senate Finance and Foreign Relations Committees, and the Department of the Treasury. He helped develop and draft proposals included in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004; Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003; and the Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief Act of 2001. He also helped prepare key Congressional reports, including one on simplification of the federal tax code, as well as an investigation into the collapse of Enron. On the international front, Mr. Beeman helped evaluate a number of tax treaties and protocols, including those with the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia and Sri Lanka.
The Joint Committee staff serves as in-house experts for Congress on the federal tax system and calculates the potential effects of proposed legislation to change the tax code. The Committee advises Congress on all matters relating to tax policy, and it plays an important role in conference committees when complex tax proposals are being reconciled by the House and Senate.
“Ray Beeman brings tremendous understanding of tax issues from so many different perspectives. His combination of industry, policy and legislative experience will be invaluable to our own extensive tax practice,” said Paul Kaplun, co-chair of Venable’s Business Division. “Ray has been on the front lines of shaping federal tax policy, but he has also worked at the granular level in devising tax strategies for business and corporate clients. We are very pleased that he is part of our group.”
The Joint Committee on Taxation also serves as an intermediary between Congress and the Executive branch, and operates as a tax research panel supporting the work of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee, the two Congressional bodies with jurisdiction over U.S. tax legislation. The Joint Committee is also responsible for reviewing any taxpayer refund above $2 million.
“Ray provides us with significant experience working on critical tax policy matters, as well as in traditional tax planning for individuals and corporations – we are certain our clients will benefit from his counsel,” said Venable tax and wealth planning partner Sam Olchyk.
Mr. Beeman called his stint with the Joint Committee “a most rewarding experience from the standpoint of having participated directly in federal legislation that is far-reaching across so many aspects of American life. There are few pieces of major domestic legislation that do not have tax considerations – as counsel to the key lawmaking committees, I was fortunate to have seen the connections in ways that may not be fully appreciated outside the halls of Congress.”
In returning to private practice, Mr. Beeman said, “I was looking to join a law firm that would allow me to continue dealing with a broad range of tax policy issues, as well as working on tax planning strategies for business clients and individuals,” said Mr. Beeman. “Venable presented a unique mix of high quality transactional work, with a top legislative and government relations practice, one of the very best in Washington. The firm was in just the right spot for me to return to client advisory work.”
Prior to joining the Joint Committee, Mr. Beeman was a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young’s national tax practice in Washington. He had earlier been a Senior Tax Associate at Arthur Andersen in Los Angeles and a Tax Specialist at KPMG, also in Los Angeles.
Mr. Beeman earned an LL.M. in taxation from Boston University School of Law, a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law, and a B.S. from University of California at Berkeley.
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