Andrew W. Kentz
1750 K Street, N.W.
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20006
phone: +1 202 331-5007
fax: +1 202 331-4011
email: akentz@pkrllp.com
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Andrew W. Kentz has been in private practice since leaving Capitol Hill in 1989. He has represented clients on international trade and Federal taxation matters, and has advised clients with respect to lobbying disclosure, campaign finance, and Congressional ethics rules. He also has extensive experience representing clients on legislative and regulatory affairs matters.
In the area of international trade, Mr. Kentz has advised clients on a variety of matters involving antidumping and countervailing duty laws, safeguard actions, and enforcement of international agreements, and has represented clients before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, the International Trade Commission, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He had a major role in representing the domestic steel industry in successfully obtaining import relief under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 and under the antidumping and countervailing duty laws. He has represented clients in various international negotiations, including the WTO Ministerial in Seattle, and also assisted a broad range of clients in working toward the development and passage of both the NAFTA and GATT Uruguay Round implementing bills, which included the revision of U.S. antidumping, countervailing duty, and market access laws.
Mr. Kentz has represented clients before the U.S. Congress, the Department of Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service on a variety of domestic and international tax matters. Recently, he has represented clients on a number of tax administration and collection procedure matters, and has worked on a variety of corporate tax matters, including those related to capital recovery and pension benefits. He also has advised trade associations and other tax-exempt clients with respect to the laws governing exempt organizations, including matters involving formation, governance, disclosure, and reporting, as well as unrelated business activities, compensation issues, and permissible uses of organization assets.
Mr. Kentz’s legislative and regulatory affairs practice has involved working with clients to identify areas of need, develop legislative concepts, build supporting coalitions, and advocate their interests before the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch. He also regularly advises clients with respect to proposed and enacted legislative and regulatory changes and the effect of such changes on their businesses, and prepares clients who are called to testify before Congressional committees and administrative agencies. His experience in the public policy arena also extends to advising clients with respect to lobbying disclosure, campaign finance, and Congressional ethics rules.
Before co-founding Picard Kentz & Rowe in June 2009, Mr. Kentz was a partner at the international law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, formerly Dewey Ballantine. He practiced law at these firms for 20 years, during which time he served on the Management Committee of Dewey Ballantine.
Prior to entering private practice in 1989, Mr. Kentz was Chief of Staff and Counsel to Senator Byron L. Dorgan from North Dakota while the Senator served as a Member of the Committee on Ways and Means in the House of Representatives. He was directly responsible for a broad range of tax and international trade issues in the purview of the Ways and Means Committee, and was actively involved in the development of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, and the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988. He served as a member of the Dorgan Task Force to Narrow the $100 Billion Tax Gap chaired by former IRS Commissioners Donald C. Alexander and Jerome Kurtz. Mr. Kentz also was deeply involved in the passage of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, focusing on matters related to agricultural issues and import restraints on renewable fuels, and worked extensively on import issues involving the Caribbean Basin Initiative.
From 1984 to 1985, Mr. Kentz served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable George H. Revercomb. From 1978 to 1984, he worked for Georgetown University serving as Director of Alumni Giving.
Mr. Kentz is Treasurer and Executive Committee member of the Board of Directors for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the House of Ruth, an organization providing housing and services to homeless and abused women. He has also served on the Advisory Council of the Archdiocesan Legal Network, an organization providing direct legal services to the poor. He has been a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Governors of the Georgetown University Alumni Association and served two terms as President of Georgetown University’s athletic advisory board. He also served as Vice President of the Parish Council of Holy Trinity Church in Washington, DC.
