Michael J. Desmond is the Tax Legislative Counsel in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy. He is responsible for providing the Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy) with legal advice and analysis on a broad range of issues relating to the domestic Federal tax law. Prior to joining the Office of Tax Policy, Mr. Desmond was a partner at McKee Nelson LLP in Washington, D.C., where his practice focused on large case tax litigation and tax controversy matters. Before joining McKee Nelson, Mr. Desmond was a trial lawyer with the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ronald S.W. Lew in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Mr. Desmond is an active member of the ABA’s Tax Section and the former Chair of the Tax Audits and Litigation Committee of the Taxation Section of the D.C. Bar. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law School. Mr. Desmond is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the California Bar. He received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his juris doctor magna cum laude from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America.