The New IRS Form 990: What Does It Mean For Your ... - Venable LLP

communications, contributions and other political activity; federal tax and election law limitations on
association political activity; federal and state lobbying registration and reporting requirements; the
federal lobbying tax law affecting association membership dues deductibility; the federal tax
limitations on lobbying by 501(c)(3) organizations; and congressional ethics and gift rules.
• Legislative Advocacy. With its headquarters in Washington, D.C., Venable helps many of its
association and nonprofit clients negotiate the legislative and regulatory world that resides in our
nation’s capital. Venable has a nationally recognized legislative practice. The Capitol Hill newspaper
Roll Call recently referred to Venable as a “powerful lobbying firm.” Our formidable legislative
practice has more than 25 senior legislative advisors, including luminaries such as former U.S.
Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation James Burnley. Jim
Burnley and another of Venable’s legislative partners, Jeff Kurzweil, were named as two of
“Washington’s Lobbying Leaders” by Influence magazine, and Tom Quinn is one of the most wellconnected,
veteran lobbyists in Washington, consistently included in rankings of D.C.’s top
lobbyists. Three of the most recent additions to our legislative group include William Norwind,
straight from his position as counsel and policy coordinator for the U.S. House of Representatives’
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet; Ray Shepherd,
straight from his position as Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations; and Bill Donovan, longtime in-house general counsel for the National Association of
Federal Credit Unions, where he spearheaded NAFCU’s regulatory and legislative advocacy. Our
legislative attorneys and senior legislative advisors help clients in every aspect of the legislative
process, including helping to develop, draft and guide legislation; drafting committee report
language; preparing witnesses for congressional hearings; and testifying before congressional
committees on behalf of clients. Importantly, our legislative practitioners often work in close
conjunction with our core group of association attorneys, as well as with commercial, appellate and
regulatory litigators, as part of an orchestrated, multi-faceted approach to problem-solving for our
association clients that has delivered effective, efficient results.
• Regulatory Advocacy and Compliance. Venable offers the full range of counsel and advocacy
in administrative and legislative hearings, rulemaking and regulatory proceedings, as well as
regulatory compliance. From the Federal Trade Commission to the Food and Drug Administration,
from the Federal Election Commission to the Federal Communications Commission, and from the
U.S. Department of Justice to the U.S. Department of Defense, we represent clients in opposition
to, or in support of, key regulatory agencies – advocating for or against policies, regulations and
legislation in the interests of our clients and the public. We understand well the regulatory and
policy components of these agencies, as well as the relationship between the agencies and Congress.
Venable’s approach to anticipating and solving problems often includes detailed client counseling on
regulatory compliance, petitioning and negotiating with agency officials, preparing and filing formal
comments, pursuing legislative remedies, and, where necessary, litigating aggressively, both in
support of and in opposition to regulatory agencies. For instance, the experience of Brock Landry
and Ian Volner representing associations in the federal and state regulatory arenas spans several
decades; their collective regulatory victories are both numerous and impressive. In addition, our
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