Former Treasury and IRS counsel joins Covington & Burling

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

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

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


Former Treasury and IRS counsel joins Covington & Burling

Lee Kelley, who has had senior roles in the US Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has joined Covington & Burling as a partner in the firm’s tax practice. She will focus on corporate tax matters, including structural and transactional planning.

While deputy tax legislative counsel in Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy, her most recent role, Kelley developed legislation, regulations and administrative guidance on corporations and their shareholders, partnerships, exempt organisations, and tax credits for low income housing and historic rehabilitations. Before that, she was deputy associate chief counsel for corporate taxation at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), where she oversaw the issuance of taxpayer-specific guidance and participated in the development of the government's positions in matters of tax controversy.

She also advised clients on domestic and cross-border corporate tax issues during stints at KPMG and Deloitte.

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Former ATO economist Craig Silverwood is joining from Australian firm MinterEllison
The rebranding, which will see changes to signage, visual identity and digital properties, is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year
The software space was previously more fragmented, but that model is becoming more difficult to sustain as tax administration becomes increasingly digitised
While some may argue that heads should roll following KPMG Australia’s audit leak scandal, client and revenue data emphasises that tax team stability is paramount
A landmark ruling on LLP taxation has clarified who truly holds ‘significant influence’ and which partnership structures are most likely to withstand HMRC scrutiny
Chris Jordan promoted tax schemes to clients and received illicit payments, it has also been alleged
Solving the UK's fiscal deficit requires an ‘ease of doing taxes’ framework driven by tax-as-code – not thousands of additional auditors
Despite the ongoing audit controversy, the firm’s tax and legal division saw revenue growth of 10.9%
Fresh from the UN negotiations in New York, Alex Cobham offers ITR readers a rare first-hand perspective on the future of international tax cooperation
Around 450 client-facing roles are due to be axed next week, it has been reported
Gift this article