David Skillman advises firms on the development of federal law and legislation at the nexus of tax and trade, particularly with regard to areas of key national interest, such as energy, technology, and intellectual property. He brings to his practice a deep understanding of the federal legislative and regulatory environment, having served for more than a decade as Counsel to a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

In private practice, David represents companies seeking favorable tax and international trade outcomes, the development and establishment of favorable tax, trade, and clean energy legislative and regulatory policies, cross-border energy and transmission policies, international tax measures affecting clean energy investments, and related industrial policies.

On Capitol Hill, he provided counsel to the House Democrats’ Trade Working Group, as it sought changes necessary for Congressional approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He also authored portions of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, played a key role in the enactment of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, and led Congressional efforts to enact the Timber Annex to the Peru FTA.

David also developed and secured enactment of legislation supporting a variety renewable energy incentives—including extensions of the production tax credit and the investment tax credit, development of payment mechanisms such as transferability for clean energy credits, and the creation of the investment tax credit for distributed wind energy—as well as a variety of other changes to corporate, individual, and excise taxes.