Nicholas Giordano Nick is one of the leaders of Ernst & Young LLP's Washington Council Ernst & Young group. Nick provides services related to tax and budget issues. Prior to joining Ernst & Young LLP, Nick served as the Chief Tax Counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, where he advised the Committee and other members of the Senate on substantive tax policy issues, as well as budget and parliamentary issues. Prior to his position with the Finance Committee, Nick served as the National Director for Tax Legislative Services at Ernst & Young LLP. He has also served as Legislative Director and Tax Counsel for Senator Max Baucus, where his responsibilities included coordination of all Senate floor items.

LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson is a member of the Washington Council Ernst & Young group that is part of Ernst & Young LLP. She represents clients before the Congress and at Treasury on a broad range of federal income tax issues, with a focus on corporate and international taxation.

Previously, LaBrenda held a senior position on the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation where she had significant responsibility for the tax-exempt leasing rules, straddles and other securities-related provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 and the foreign currency, corporate and capital cost recovery provisions in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

In addition to substantial transactional experience in the private sector (she began her career with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in New York and was a partner in Piper & Marbury), LaBrenda has been as an adjunct professor in the graduate division of the Georgetown University Law Center for five terms and has lectured extensively at continuing legal education programs and before professional and trade organizations.

LaBrenda received a B.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, and a J.D. and L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.

Robert Carroll is a principal with Ernst & Young LLP's Quantitative Economics and Statistics group in the National Tax Department. Based in Washington, DC, Bob is an advisor to public and private clients on federal tax policy issues, including revenue and economic impact effects. He helps lead a group of quantitative analysts who assist clients with tax and economic policy studies.

Before joining Ernst & Young LLP, Bob served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis of the U.S. Treasury Department where he was the top economist working on tax policy issues. Bob oversaw the Treasury's development of business tax reforms to improve the global competitiveness of the United States and efforts to reform the tax system. Previously, Bob served as a Visiting Scholar with the Congressional Budget Office and Senior Economist with the President's Council on Economic Advisers. Bob was also recently on the faculty of American University's School of Public Affairs and a Senior Fellow with the Tax Foundation.

Bob has testified before the U.S. Congress on a wide range of tax issues including tax reform, the alternative minimum tax, health care, the solvency of the highway trust funds, and expiring tax provisions. He has published numerous papers on a wide range of tax issues in academic and other journals.

Bob received his B.S. from the State University of New York at Albany and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Syracuse University.

Eric Solomon is the Director of Ernst & Young LLP?s National Tax Department in Washington, DC. He has more than 30 years of tax experience in private practice and government service. Previously, Eric served as Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from December 2006 to January 2009. As Assistant Secretary, he headed the Office of Tax Policy, which serves as the primary advisor to the Treasury Secretary on legal and economic matters relating to domestic and international taxation. He is the recipient of several notable awards, including the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award, the Kenneth H. Liles Award for Distinguished Service and the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest award for service to the Treasury Department.