Michelle Layser Leaves Illinois For San Diego

USD School of Law Announces Addition of Michelle D. Layser to Tax Law Faculty:

The University of San Diego (USD) School of law is excited to announce that Professor Michelle D. Layser (JD/LLM) [Google Scholar] will be joining the tax law faculty at the start of the Fall 2022 semester. Professor Layser brings with her an extensive knowledge of the intersection of tax law and social policy.

Professor Layser is currently an Assistant Professor Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, where she has taught courses on partnership taxation, state and local taxation, business taxation, and affordable housing and community development law. Prior to that, Professor Layser taught at the Georgetown University Law Center where she served as a Law Research Fellow and taught a seminar course on taxation and social justice.

Major themes in Professor Layser’s research include the use of tax expenditures to deliver public goods, and the effects of these expenditures on economic and social inequality. Her work has been published in the Tax Law Review [How Place-Based Tax Incentives Can Reduce Geographic Inequality], the UC Irvine Law Review [A Spatial Analysis Of Place-Based Tax Incentives], the Wisconsin Law Review [The Pro-Gentrification Origins Of Place-Based Investment Tax Incentives And Community Oriented Reform], and the Indiana Law Journal [How Federal Tax Law Rewards Segregation] among other journals. Her most recent research, which explores how states can overcome constitutional barriers to place-based tax incentive reform, is forthcoming in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. In addition to her scholarly publications, Professor Layser has also written various articles for the Illinois Institute of Government & Public Affairs, Law360, The Conversation, and the TaxProf Blog. Professor Layser has presented her work at institutions around the country.

Professor Layser brings to the USD School of Law a wealth of practical experience. Before beginning her teaching career, she worked as an Associate at Latham & Watkins LLP. She then worked for the Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs as a Senior Legal Editor and a Managing Editor for three years before focusing on research and teaching full time.

Professor Layser received her Juris Doctorate (JD) from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where she graduated order of the coif. While working towards her JD, Professor Layser served on the board of the Southern California Law Review.  She received her Master of Laws in Taxation (LLM) from the New York University School of Law.