John D. Raffaelli

John D. Raffaelli is the founding partner of Capitol Counsel LLC.    He has more than 25 years of experience in federal policy and policymaking, with an emphasis on taxation, finance, health care, international trade, and general business matters.  In addition to being called a “big-name lobbyist” by the Washington Post, he has been nationally recognized as one of the most effective lobbyists in Washington and is respected by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers for his knowledge of the legislative process and his ability to develop public policy solutions to client problems. In 2007, he was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top 25 lobbyists in the Nation’s Capital, and he has made every top lobbyist list in the magazine since it began publishing them.

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.