I recently attended the 38th Annual Conference of the National Association of State Bar Tax Sections (NASBTS) at Alston & Bird LLP in downtown Washington D.C.
About 20-30 states were represented at this year’s NASBTS conference, and it was fascinating meeting tax practitioners from across the country, including Minnesota, Texas, and Florida.
I was invited to the conference because I was selected to receive the 2017 Scholarship Award “for excellence in the study of State and Local Tax (SALT).” The conference alternates between the east and west coast. A single Georgetown student receives the scholarship whenever the conference is in D.C., and this year it happened to be me.
My Georgetown tax LL.M. experience so far
I’ve been extremely impressed with the quality of Georgetown’s SALT LL.M. program — particularly the SALT certificate classes. I was familiar with every topic covered at the conference either through class, my externship, or research projects. I think this is a good sign that the LL.M. is actually preparing me for a high-level SALT practice. Topics covered at this year’s conference included unclaimed property, digital taxation, and a survey of property tax developments.
Georgetown’s LL.M. program emphasizes networking as much as academics. Most of the adjuncts are the leading SALT attorneys in town and we are constantly invited to attend networking sessions with local employers (including conferences such as NASBTS.)
Several employers have already held recruiting events on campus. Some large companies and law firms also exclusively recruit through Georgetown and NYU’s LL.M. programs, which makes me optimistic about my post-graduation prospects.
Last year’s Georgetown tax LL.M. class had a 99% employment rate on graduation — we’ll see if history repeats itself this year. Passing the bar and the NASBTS scholarship are a probably good start. 📚
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