US Treasury’s Ruth Madrigal joins Steptoe

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

US Treasury’s Ruth Madrigal joins Steptoe

Madrigal Ruth 100 x 90

Ruth Madrigal has joined Steptoe & Johnson as a partner in the tax group in the Washington office.

Madrigal has spent the past six years at the US Treasury department’s office of tax policy, where she served as the exempt organisations (EO) attorney and policy adviser. While at Treasury, Madrigal drafted regulations and other administrative guidance relating to the tax-exempt sector, including Treasury guidance on programme-related investments and other types of mission-related investments, updated rules facilitating foreign grant making, and new regulations detailing requirements for tax-exempt hospitals. She also contributed to legislative proposals relating to charitable organisations and charitable giving, and represented the department in public hearings and in meetings with other federal agencies, foreign governments, Congress, and state regulators.

At Steptoe, Madrigal will build upon the firm’s tax-exempt organisations practice, led by Suzanne McDowell and Catherine Wilkinson.

Madrigal previously worked in private practice at Caplin & Drysdale, where she advised EOs on a broad range of issues, including entity choice, private foundation rules, intermediate sanctions, unrelated business activities, and reporting and governance issues. She also worked at Irell & Manella, advising on tax and corporate transactions.

Steptoe is the second US firm in recent days to announce the hire of a former government official, as firms get ready for a year of tax action under President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20.

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The new outfit, Ashurst Perkins Coie, will bring together around 3,000 lawyers across 23 countries
As World Tax unveils its much-anticipated rankings for 2026, we highlight the two Brazilian firms that had a standout year of tier promotions
ITR understands that UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce a consultation on the proposed financial reward scheme, which had left advisers fretting
The long-running dispute centres on Medtronic’s use of the comparable uncontrolled transaction TP method; in other news, Paul Hastings and FTI Consulting both made double tax hires
The boutique Australian firm’s TP award recognition proves that world-class advisory services aren’t limited to the ‘big four’, the firm’s founder tells ITR
Canadian and Indian dual VAT models have been a source of inspiration for the Brazilian model, but the latter has unique and innovative features, the OECD paper claimed
More sophisticated use of technology, heightened TP scrutiny and stricter filing requirements are making South African Revenue Service audits a formidable challenge
The hire of Doug Wick expands Baker McKenzie’s state and local tax practice and adds to the firm’s growing ex-IRS expertise
One year after Nuwaru joined the WTS network, leaders James Jobson and Matthew Missaghi reflect on the firm’s mission to offer mid-tier pricing but deliver top-tier results
Join ITR's Head of Research, John Harrison, for an overview of key dates, new developments, best practices, and more for next year’s research cycle
Gift this article