Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck adds expertise to its Tax and Financial Services team in Washington, D.C., with the addition of Preston Rutledge as a strategic consulting advisor through Rutledge Policy Group, LLC. Rutledge has 25 years of legislative and executive branch experience to counsel clients on issues related to tax, labor, employee benefits and health care policy. He will be advising the firm as an affiliated advisor.
“Preston Rutledge is the Yoda of the employee benefits’ universe. He has mentored many and the wise follow his sage advice,” said Russ Sullivan, who heads Brownstein’s National Tax Practice and served with Rutledge on the Senate Finance Committee staff.
“Preston is a great addition to our bipartisan team. His experience with the Department of Labor will be especially important over the coming years and his team-oriented approach to advocacy is a good fit with our firm’s culture,” said Marc Lampkin, Brownstein’s Government Relations Department chair.
Rutledge served as assistant secretary of labor at the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) from January 2018 to May 2020. He led the agency’s drafting and publication of guidance implementing retirement, health and workplace benefits policies. He also coordinated efforts with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, White House Domestic Policy Council, White House Office of Legislative Affairs, National Economic Council, Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
Prior to his Senate confirmation as assistant secretary of labor, Rutledge served for over a decade as tax and benefits counsel for the majority staff of the Senate Finance Committee. He was the staff lead for Chairman Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) retirement initiatives, served as tax and oversight counsel for the minority staff of the Finance Committee and was a legislative assistant to Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK). Earlier in his career, Rutledge served as a tax law specialist and management official at the Internal Revenue Service, where he supervised attorneys who prepared guidance to implement legislation such as the Pension Protection Act and the Small Business Jobs Act.
“Brownstein has a great reputation in D.C., and I’m pleased to join forces with them to help build on the incredible successes they’ve achieved for their clients,” said Rutledge.
Rutledge holds degrees with high honors from the University of Idaho (B.S.), The George Washington University Law School (J.D.) and the Georgetown University Law Center (L.L.M. - Taxation). Prior to law school, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.