Michael Desmond '90 Tax Legislative Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury Michael Desmond majored in both history and political science because he felt the practical components of political science were a good complement to his academic interest in history. While at UCSB, he participated in the Capitol Hill Program (UCDC) and believes it had significant influence on his career choice. Instead of going to law school directly after graduation, he decided to return to Washington to work because of his positive experience there. His first job in Washington DC was for the House Veterans Affairs Committee. He describes it as a “typical first-year-out-of-college job” but believes the year he spent in it gave him a better focus. He recognized that law compliments many career choices, especially in Washington: “A law degree opens up many options there, even for people who don’t choose to practice law,” and entered law school at Catholic University of America. After obtaining his J.D. he worked as law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Ronald S. W. Lew in Los Angeles, then married Kristen Walsh ’90 (whom he’d met during the Capitol Hill program) and returned to Washington DC to take a position as a trial lawyer for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice. He left the Justice Department for private practice with the firm McKee Nelson LLP, where his practice focused on large case tax litigation and tax controversy matters. In October 2005, he was officially appointed Tax Legislative Counsel in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy, responsible for providing the Assistant Secretary with legal advice and analysis on a broad range of issues relating to the domestic Federal tax law. Michael notes that this is essentially a policy position, but being able to understand policy from a law perspective has been a big help. There are two primary components to Michael’s position as Tax Legislative Counsel: (1) working with the IRS on regulations to implement and interpret tax laws, and (2) working within the Administration and with Congressional staff on tax legislative proposals to determine what the policy issues are and what technical questions might be raised. Michael states that political science has been excellent preparation for both law school and his current position, because it provides context for the operation of government and the role of law. He strongly endorses the UCDC program because it “develops contacts and connections with people who have the same policy interests you do—connections I still draw on today.”