Kevin S. McGuiness

"Kevin McGuiness has been practicing law in Washington, D.C. for over thirty years. Since leaving Capitol Hill in 1991, he has represented a variety of clients on major legislative initiatives involving professional sports, health care, pharmaceuticals, labor relations, the Internet, and antitrust issues. He has extensive experience in all phases of the legislative process, including Congressional oversight and investigations, and for decades has created and implemented legislative, legal, and public relations strategies for an extremely diverse cli entele. In 1981, Mr. McGuiness joined the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources as the Republican labor counsel. He was subsequently selected by then chairman of the Committee, Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R - UT), to be the minority chief counsel and staff director. He was responsible with overseeing the entire Committee agenda, including health care, education, and pension policy and for helping to develop the legislative agenda for the Committee and for Republican Senate floor strategies . In 1988, Mr. McGuiness was appointed the Senator’s Chief of Staff and, in addition to his Senate responsibilities, he played a leadership role in Senator Hatch’s r eelection. While serving in these position s , Mr. McGuiness managed a staff of over eighty people, including the Senator’s offices in Washington, D.C. and Utah, as well as his committee staff. In 1991, Mr. McGuiness left Capitol Hill to found the law firm of McGuiness & Holch, which specialized in legislative and regulatory matters. He was the managing partner during his fourteen years at the firm. Building on his Hill experience, Mr. McGuiness was able to assist a diverse group of clients with specific legislative problems and the challenges of Congressional oversight. The legislation he has h elped to pass, amend, or stop, as well as the Congressional investigations in which he has pa rticipated, do not fit into any single category. He worked on the overhaul of a multiple employer health care plan for retired miners, legislation to combat count erfeiting, and was instrumental in the passage of a bill creating a statutory framework for the regulation of dietary supplements. He helped moved through Congress legislation that protected innovative primary care practices from elimination and played a major role in the Congressional oversight of drug testing in professional sports. Mr. McGuiness also has been intimately involved in several of the more high profile Congressional antitrust initiatives. He worked on the Congressional investigation of monopolistic practices in computer software industry and helped stop efforts to create new antitrust exemptions for select segments of the health care industry. He w as involved in the federal review of the merger of XM a nd Sirius satellite radio, facilitated Congressional involvement in several hos pital mergers, and has helped shape the ongoing debate over the antitrust exemptions afforded sports leagues. While at the firm, Mr. McGuiness also served as the Executive Dire ctor of NetCoaltion, which at the time was the pioneer association for leading Internet companies. During the 2000 presidential primaries, he took a leave of absence to serve as the campaign manager for Senator Hatch’s brief presidential bid. As the legi slative process has become more complex and the methods of communication more diverse, Mr. McGuiness increasingly has been asked to assemble and coordinate teams of legislative, legal, and public relations professionals to address issues at both the federa l and state levels. Consequently, in 2004, he left the law firm to form the McGuiness Group in order to provide clients with a more comprehensive framework for representation. In addition to his law practice, Mr. McGuiness has been a freelance writer for both public and private sector officials and has helped edit several publications for the Equal Employment Advisory Council and the Wharton School of Business. Mr. McGuiness received his B.A. from the University of California at Irvine. After teaching Ren aissance History and English Literature in Florence, Italy, he returned to the United States and received his J.D. from George Washington University Law School. He and his wife, Katherine, reside in Arlington, Virginia and Lewes, Dela"