Nick Sutter

Nick Sutter is a member of Steptoe's Tax and Government Affairs & Public Policy practices who leverages his Capitol Hill experience to advise corporations, trade associations, and nonprofit organizations on a broad range of matters before federal agencies and Congress.

Nick works with several manufacturers, project developers, utilities, and trade associations related to the implementation and application of the new and expanded energy tax incentives enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act, including solar, wind, carbon capture and sequestration, electric vehicle, and manufacturing tax credits. His experience includes advising on transactional matters as well as assisting clients with legislative and regulatory advocacy before Congress and the Department of Treasury. Nick also counsels tax-exempt organizations on both tax and governance matters. His exempt organization practice focuses on assisting public charities, advocacy organizations, and business associations with obtaining exempt status from the IRS and ongoing compliance with the tax rules governing exempt organizations and political activity.

Additionally, Nick provides strategic advice on government affairs matters to help clients navigate complex policy and procedural issues before Congress. He advises clients on a broad range of issues at the intersection of law and policy and counsels clients on tax, energy, supply-chain, insurance, ERISA, and financial services issues. He has assisted clients with drafting legislation and successfully advocated for legislative changes to further client interests before key congressional committees. Nick also has extensive experience drafting comment letters on behalf of clients across industries to respond to proposed federal agency rulemakings.

Before joining Steptoe, Nick worked in the US Senate for seven years for Senator Maria Cantwell, the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee and senior member of the Senate Finance and Senate Energy Committees. He served as a professional staff member at the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, as well as Senator Cantwell’s Tax legislative assistant and handling her work before the Senate Finance Committee during consideration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.