Education

• Bryn Mawr College A.B. 1987
• New York University School of Law J.D. 1990
• New York University School of Law LL.M. 1993

Courses

• Introduction to Income Tax (B650)
• Corporate Taxation (B700)
• Seminar in Tax Procedure (L784)
• Tax Policy Colloquium (B526)

Background

• One of the 10 most frequently cited tax scholars, 2016-2020, 2013-2017, 2010-2014, 2009-2013, 2005-2010, according to Brian Leiter's Law School Reports
• Co-host of internationally attended Indiana/Leeds Summer Tax Workshop Series, 2020 & 2021
• Recipient, Tracy M. Sonneborn Award (from Indiana University), 2019
• Recipient, Fulbright Research Grant, University of Luxembourg, 2019
• American Bar Association Section of Taxation, Tax Policy and Simplification Committee, Vice-Chair, July 2017 to October 2018
• Member, American Law Institute, 2018–
• Indiana University Overseas Conference Grants for European Association of Tax Law Professors (EATLP) meetings, 2014 (Istanbul) and 2015 (Milan)
• Recipient, Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award, 2012
• Elected Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, 2011
• Member, Executive Committee, Tax Section of the Association of American Law Schools
• Member, Board of Directors, National Tax Association, November 2009 to November 2012
• Received IU Maurer School of Law Trustees' Teaching Award, April 2009
• Chair, Teaching Taxation Committee of A.B.A. Section of Taxation, July 2007 to June 2009
• Past member, Green Bag Almanac & Reader, Board of Advisors
• Received New York University School of Law Alumni Association Legal Teaching Award, April 2005
• Received American Tax Policy Institute research grant for tax compliance project, August 2002
• Received her LL.M. from New York University School of Law, where she was a student editor of the Tax Law Review
• Earned her J.D. cum laude in 1990 from New York University School of Law, where she was a note and comment editor of the N.Y.U. Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif
• Received her A.B. cum laude in 1987, with honors in her major, from Bryn Mawr College

Biography

Professor Lederman joined the Maurer faculty in 2004. In 2019, Lederman had a Fulbright research grant at the University of Luxembourg, where she researched transparency of tax rulings. Also in 2019, Professor Lederman was awarded the Tracy M. Sonneborn Award by Indiana University. This award is given to “an exemplary researcher who is also well known as an exemplary teacher.” In the summer of 2020, Professor Lederman and Dr. Leopoldo Parada from the University of Leeds started and co-hosted the widely attended Indiana/Leeds Summer Tax Workshop Series. They also co-hosted this international series in the summer of 2021. 

In 2015, Lederman spent the fall as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago. In 2005, she received the New York University School of Law Alumni Association Legal Teaching Award; in 2009, she received a Trustees' Teaching Award from the Maurer School of Law; and in 2012, she received its Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award. Before joining the Indiana Law faculty, Lederman spent 10 years teaching elsewhere, most recently at George Mason University School of Law, where she was recognized by George Mason University for excellence in teaching in 2001. She spent the 2002-2003 academic year at the University of Texas School of Law as a visiting professor. She also regularly teaches a short course in U.S. Tax Law at the University of Navarra.

From 1990-1992, Lederman practiced law as an associate at the New York office of White & Case. From 1993 to 1994, she served as an attorney-advisor to Judge David Laro of the United States Tax Court.

Lederman teaches income tax, corporate tax, tax policy colloquium, and a seminar in tax procedure. Her research interests include policy issues in the areas of tax administration (including tax compliance and IRS funding), tax controversies, and federal income tax law (individual and corporate). Her work often draws upon law-and-economics insights, and it has included empirical analyses of outcomes in U.S. Tax Court cases.

Lederman has written numerous articles, and she presents her work regularly at conferences and workshops. She has co-authored a casebook on tax controversies and a student guide to corporate taxation. She is a past chair of the executive committee of the Tax Section of the Association of American Law Schools, and, in 2012, completed a term as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Tax Association. She is a past chair of the ABA Section of Taxation Teaching Taxation Committee and a past vice-chair of the Section’s Tax Policy and Simplification Committee. She was an associate editor of the ABA Section of Taxation NewsQuarterly from 2002-2015.

In The Media

• Quoted in "#TaxTok answers the request for easy-to-understand tax info," Tax Notes (sub. req.) ( 07-27-2021 )
• Quoted in "Six months in, lawyers still grappling with new tax court system," Tax Notes (sub. req.) ( 07-12-2021 )
• Featured in "Spotlight on tax professor Leandra Lederman," Bloomberg ( 06-18-2021 )
• Quoted in "Top 1% of earners don't pay taxes on one-fifth of income, study finds," Marketplace ( 03-23-2021 )
• Quoted in "Georgia republicans reintroduce judicial deference bill," Tax Notes ( 02-23-2021 )

Selected Works

Congressional Testimony

• "The Importance of Enforcement to Taxpayer Fairness" (PDF and VIDEO): Testimony before the House Committee on Ways & Means Oversight Submcomittee in a hearing entitled, "Taxpayer Fairness," October 13, 2020

Publications

• Information Matters in Tax Enforcement, 2020 Brigham Young University Law Review __ (with Joseph C. Dugan) (forthcoming 2020)
• Tax Controversies: Practice and Procedure, 4th ed.(with Stephen W. Mazza). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2018. 2019 Supplement
• Does Enforcement Reduce Voluntary Tax Compliance?, 2018 Brigham Young University Law Review 623 (2018)
• Understanding Corporate Taxation, 3d ed. (with Michelle M. Kwon). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2016
• IRS Reform: Politics As Usual?, 7 Columbia Journal of Tax Law 36 (2016) (symposium)
• (Un)Appealing Deference to the Tax Court, 63 Duke Law Journal 1835 (2014) (symposium)
• Enforcement as Substance in Tax Compliance, 70 Washington & Lee Law Review 1679 (2013) (with Ted Sichelman)
• What Do Courts Have to Do With it? The Judiciary’s Role in Making Tax Law, 65 National Tax Journal 899 (2012) (symposium)
• The Use of Voluntary Disclosure Initiatives in the Battle Against Offshore Tax Evasion, 57 Villanova Law Review 499 (2012) (symposium)
• The Fight over “Fighting Regs” and Judicial Deference in Tax Litigation, 92 Boston University Law Review 643 (2012)
• A Tisket, A Tasket: Basketing and Corporate Tax Shelters, 88 Washington University Law Review 557 (2011)
• W(h)ither Economic Substance?, 95 Iowa Law Review 389 (2010)
• Reducing Information Gaps to Reduce the Tax Gap: When Is Information Reporting Warranted?, 78 Fordham Law Review 1733 (2010)
• Tax Appeal: A Proposal to Make the United States Tax Court More Judicial, 85 Washington University Law Review 1195 (2008)
• Statutory Speed Bumps: The Roles Third Parties Play in Tax Compliance, 60 Stanford Law Review 695 (2007)
• “Stranger Than Fiction”: Taxing Virtual Worlds, 82 New York University Law Review 1620 (2007)

Related Links

• Social Science Research Network
• Publications
• Home page
• ORCID

Areas of Expertise

• Tax law