Katherine (Katie) Pratt

BA, University of Florida
JD, Distinguished Advocate, University of California Los Angeles School of Law 
LLM in Taxation, New York University School of Law 
LLM in Corporate Law, New York University School of Law

Background

After her graduation from law school, Katherine Pratt worked as an associate with Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman in Beverly Hills. She began her teaching career in 1990, after earning two LLM degrees, in tax law and corporate law, from New York University School of Law. Professor Pratt has taught at New York University School of Law, Saint Louis University School of Law, and New York Law School. She has been a member of Loyola's full-time faculty since 1997. She teaches Income Tax I, Tax Policy, Honors Tax Policy Colloquium, Business Associations, and Contracts.

Professor Pratt's current scholarly interests include: the federal income tax treatment of medical expenses and employer-provided health care; food excise taxes; obesity regulation; and federal budget issues.  Her previous scholarship also has addressed corporate tax and corporate finance issues.

Selected Scholarship

Works in Progress

• The Role of Disgust in the Income Tax: O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner
• A Constructive Critique of Public Health Arguments for Anti-obesity Soda Taxes and Food Taxes, forthcoming Tulane Law Review (2012)
• Pursuing a Tax LLM: Why? When? Where? ABA Tax Section (forthcoming) (ranked in the “Top 10” for All-Time SSRN downloads in the tax area)

Published Books and Articles

• Federal Income Taxation: Examples and Explanations (Aspen) (6th ed. 2011), with Joseph Bankman and Thomas Griffith
• Deducting the Costs of Fertility Treatment: Implications of Magdalin v. Commissioner for Opposite-Sex Couples, Gay and Lesbian Same-Sex Couples, and Single Women and Men, 2009 Wis. L. Rev. 1283 (2009).
• The Boundaries of the Medical Expense Deduction
• Normative Justifications for Food Excise Taxes
• “The Virtual Tax Library: A Comparison of Five Electronic Tax Research Platforms,” 8 Fla. Tax Rev. 935 (2008) (peer-reviewed) (with Jennifer Kowal and Daniel Martin), Awarded the 2009 "Outstanding Article" by the Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries
• “Federal Income Tax: Examples & Explanations” (5th ed.), Aspen Publishers (2008) (with Joseph Bankman and Thomas Griffith)
• "Deficits and the Dividend Tax Cut: Tax Policy as the Handmaiden of Fiscal Policy," 41 Ga. L. Rev. 503 (2006)
• "Federal Income Taxation: Examples and Explanations" (4th ed.), Aspen Publishers (2005) (with Joseph Bankman and Thomas Griffith)
• "Corporate Cancellation of Indebtedness Income and the Debt-Equity Distinction," 24 Va. Tax Rev. 187 (2004)
• "Inconceivable? Deducting the Costs of Fertility Treatment," 89 Cornell L. Rev. 101 (2004)
• "Federal Income Taxation: Examples and Explanations" (3rd ed.), Aspen Publishers (2002) (with Joseph Bankman and Thomas Griffith)
• "The Debt-Equity Distinction in a Second-Best World," 53 Vand. L. Rev. 1055 (2000)
• "Federal Income Taxation: Examples and Explanations" (2nd ed.), Aspen Publishers, (1998) (with Joseph Bankman & Thomas Griffith)
• "Federal Income Taxation: Examples and Explanations" (1st ed.), Aspen Publishers, (1996) (with Joseph Bankman & Thomas Griffith)
• "Federal Tax Sources Recommended for Law School Libraries," 87 L. Libr. J. 387 (1995)"Funding Health Care Reform with an Employer Mandate: Efficiency and Equity Concerns," 39 St. Louis U. L.J. 155 (1994) (symposium issue)
• "Shifting Biases: Troubled Company Debt Restructurings After the 1993 Tax Act," 68 Am. Bankr. L.J. 23 (1994) (peer-reviewed) 

Representative Academic Presentations

• A Constructive Critique of Public Health Arguments for Anti-obesity Soda Taxes and Food Taxes, Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society 22nd Annual Scientific Meeting, Auckland New Zealand, October 19, 2012.
• Commentator for Edward McCaffery, Behavorial Law and Economics: Tax, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, Tax Policy Colloquium, September 17, 2012.
• Policy Justifications for Anti-obesity Soda Taxes and Food Taxes, Fall 2011 Northern California Tax Roundtable (invited presenter), UC Davis School of Law, November 11, 2011.
• The Tax Law Distinction between “Medical Care” and “Cosmetic Surgery:” O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner, symposium on LGBT Identity and the Law, Loyola Law School Los Angeles, sponsored by Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, October 21, 2011.
• Constructing “the Body” and Construing “Disease:” The U.S. Tax Law Distinction Between “Medical Care” and “Cosmetic Surgery,” interdisciplinary conference on The Language of Illness and Pain, sponsored by Birkbeck College School of Medical Humanities, University of London, July 3, 2011.
• Moderator, Panel on Approaches to Tax Expenditure Reform, Starving the Hidden Beast: New Approaches to Tax Expenditure Reform conference, Los Angeles (co-sponsored by Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center/Loyola Law School, Los Angeles), Friday, January 14, 2011.
• Commentator for Roland Sturm, Soda Taxes, Soft Drink Consumption, and Children's Body Mass Index, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, Tax Policy Colloquium, October 18, 2010.
• The Role of Food Excise Taxes in Health Care Reform, Law and Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 28, 2010.
• Deducting the Costs of Fertility Treatment: Implications of the Magdalin Case for Infertile and Fertile Taxpayers, Faculty Workshop at Florida State University College of Law, January 28, 2010.
• Deducting the Costs of Fertility Treatment: Implications of the Magdalin Case, Assisted Reproduction Technology and Adoption Law Symposium, Academy of California Adoption Lawyers and Academy of California Family Formation Lawyers, Los Angeles California, January 23, 2010.
• Countering the “Personal Responsibility” Norm in Obesity Policy Debates, Public Health Advocacy Institute Fourth Annual Conference on Legal Approaches to the Obesity Epidemic, Boston, Massachusetts, November 2006 (invited by PHAI to participate as a speaker)
• The Externalities Justification for Food Excise Taxes, Public Health Advocacy Institute Third Annual Conference on Legal Approaches to the Obesity Epidemic, Boston, Massachusetts, September 2005 (invited by PHAI to participate as a speaker) 
• Normative Justifications for Food Excise Taxes, UCLA Medical School, Center for Human Nutrition, Los Angeles, California, June 2005 (invited by UCLA Center for Nutrition to present the workshop talk)
• Normative Justifications for Food Excise Taxes, UCLA School of Law, Tax Policy & Public Finance Workshop Series, Los Angeles, California, April 2005 (invited by UCLA School of Law to present the workshop talk)
• Food Excise Taxes as a Response to the Obesity Epidemic, Public Health Advocacy Institute Second Annual Conference on Legal Approaches to the Obesity Epidemic, Boston, Massachusetts, September 2004 (invited by PHAI to participate as a speaker)

In the News

• Interviewed by Southern California Public Radio reporter José Martinez and quoted in his article, New York’s Sugary Drink Ban: Would It Work in South LA?, “On Central” blog, June 5, 2012
• Interviewed by Eve Troeh for NPR “Marketplace” segment on “Seen and Unseen Taxes,” to be aired on April 2, 2012.
• Interviewed by Tax Analysts reporter Matthew Dalton and quoted in his article, Year in Review: The 2011 Person of the Year, Tax Notes, January 2, 2012.
• Interviewed by Tax Analysts reporter Matthew Dalton and quoted in his article, IRS Acquiesces on Deductibility of Gender Identity Disorder Treatment Expenses, Tax Notes, November 4, 2011.
• Interviewed by Ross Reynolds in an NPR radio segment about anti-obesity fat taxes, “The Conversation with Ross Reynolds,” KUOW, Seattle, Washington, November 1, 2011.

Op-Eds

• In 2011, those serious about reducing the deficit will look to tax expenditures, Summary Judgments, “11 on’ 11” Series, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Faculty Blog, February 11, 2011
• Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due, Miller-McCune, February 7, 2011 
• Show Me the Money: A Hidden Source of Funding for Federal Deficit Reduction, Los Angeles Daily Journal, January 12, 2011