New Dean Expands Offerings in Taxation and LLM Programs
Amy McLellan’s passion is creating practical, relevant, and exciting classes that give students a solid technical background they can use on-the-job.
After Amy McLellan (JD, LLM) graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in Sociology, she went to work helping homeless and low-income women in Boston. Inspired by the legal advocacy she witnessed, she headed to law school. She chose an emphasis in taxation because she wanted to use a tax background to help elderly communities in need. And that’s how Amy’s taxation and law career was born.
In April, Amy was selected as Dean of the Braden School of Taxation and Director of the LLM Taxation and Estate Planning programs at Golden Gate University. Previously, she served as visiting associate professor and director of online education at the highly respected University of Denver College of Law. Prior to joining Denver Law, she was a partner in a Massachusetts law firm before founding her own law firm with an expertise in estate, tax, and business planning.
“Golden Gate University really is a school with a huge heart,” said Amy, speaking about her new role bridging the Braden School of Taxation and School of Law. “Everyone works hard to make GGU exceptional for anyone who comes here so that students reach the best place in their education. I’m really impressed with the resources we have—high-caliber career services, a fantastic library, tremendous faculty and alumni. All the faculty in the tax programs are more than willing to help students. That’s how I’ve approached the job as dean, to take students as they are and get them to where they want to be.”
Relevance and Accessibility
Amy’s new initiatives highlight relevance and accessibility. This fall, the LLM program added 19 classes to its curriculum, including online offerings. In addition, the MS in Taxation and the LLM Taxation programs will offer courses in three formats: on-campus, online, and live webinars held in Seattle that students may Zoom into from anywhere.
“Golden Gate University really is a school with a huge heart.”
She’s also updating advanced certificates in international tax and state and local tax, important areas impacted by changes to the tax code and recent legal and legislative decisions.
Community Initiatives
Community initiatives include hosting groups and conferences on the Golden Gate University campus.
“Part of reaching out to the community is hosting tax and estate planning events, to share resources with the community and to foster an exciting intellectual environment for our students that is also practical,” said Amy.
Alumni Outreach
Connecting with alumni is an equally important part of outreach.
“We have this amazing community of alumni” said Amy. “I’m really looking forward to socializing and networking and learning about how the program has been important to them and how it continues to be something they think about fondly and want to support.”
