John D Raffaelli

Mr. Raffaelli spent four years on Capitol Hill as counsel for tax and international trade to Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX). He developed extensive expertise in the tax rules governing depreciation, R&D, insurance, real estate, energy, and other issues and, as a lobbyist, has regularly represented clients before Congress on those issues. Before founding Capitol Counsel, Mr. Raffaelli was a founder and former chairman of The Washington Group, a government relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he represented a wide variety of business, tax, and trade clients on Capitol Hill and before executive branch agencies. Prior to serving with The Washington Group and its predecessor firm, Raffaelli, Spees, Springer, and Smith, Mr. Raffaelli was a partner in the Washington law firm of Bishop, Cook, Purcell, and Reynolds. Before serving on Senator Bentsen’s staff in the Senate, Mr. Raffaelli served as attorney advisor to then Chief Judge Samuel Sterrett of the U.S. Tax Court. He also served as staff assistant to Congressman Wright Patman (D-TX). Mr. Raffaelli has served as a managing trustee of the Democratic National Committee. He was also actively involved in the 1992 Clinton for president campaign, served on the 1996 Clinton-Gore national finance committee, and served as vice chair of the Kerry for president campaign. He is active each year in many House and Senate campaigns. Mr. Raffaelli also served on the President’s advisory committee on the arts for the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Raffaelli holds an L.L.M. degree in taxation from New York University Law School, a J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas Law School, and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from American University.