- Federal Income Taxation
- Estate and Gift Tax
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Trusts and Wills
Links
Education
- AB, University of Michigan, Phi Beta Kappa
- MA, C.Phil, University of California, Los Angeles
- JD, magna cum laude, Georgetown University Law Center
Background
While in law school, Ellen Aprill was articles editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. Following graduation, she served as law clerk to the Honorable John Butzner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and to the Honorable Byron R. White, associate justice, United States Supreme Court. She then practiced for several years with the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles. Before joining the Loyola faculty, Aprill served for two years in the Office of Tax Policy in the United States Department of the Treasury in Washington, DC. She was a member of the Loyola Law School faculty from 1989-2022.
Selected Scholarship
- Federal Charities (in progress)
- Revising Charitable Purpose under Section 501(c)(3) and the Administrative Procedure Act (in progress)
- The Gains from Tax Exemption of Religions Organizations (in progress)
- A Tax Lesson for Education Law, Tax Notes (2021)
- "The University, Ideology, and Tax Exemption,"(with Samuel D. Bronson), Tax Notes (2020)
- "Standards for Charitable Disaster Relief in the Time of Pandemic," Tax Notes (2020)
- "The Private Foundation Excise Tax on Self-Dealing: Contours, Comparisons, and Character," 17 Pitt. Tax Rev. 297 (2020)
- "A Tax Lesson for Election Law," Tax Notes (2020)
- "Revisiting the Tax Treatment of States, Political Subdivisions, and Their Affiliates," 23 Fla. Tax Rev. 73 (2019)
- "Examining the Landscape of Section 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organizations," 21 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol'y 345 (2018)
- "Amending the Johnson Amendment in the Age of Cheap Speech," 2018 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1 (2018)
- "The Tax Legislative Process: A Byrd's Eye View," 81 Law & Contemp. Probs. 99 (2018)
- "Charitable Class, Disaster Relief, and First Responders," Tax Notes 2016
- "The Latest Installment of the Section 501(c)4) Saga," 13 Pitt. Tax Rev. 43 (2016)
- "Reconciling Nonprofit Self-Dealing Rules," ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal 411 (Winter 2014)
- "Legislation vs. Regulation: Defining Campaign Intervention under Federal Tax Law," 63 Duke L.J. 1635 (2014)
- "Reforming the Charitable Contribution Substantiation Rules," 14 Fla. Tax Rev. 275 (2013)
- "The Impact of Agency Procedure and Judicial Review on Tax Reform," National Tax Journal, Vol. 65, No. 4, pp. 917-932, December 2012
- "Why the IRS Should Want To Develop Rules Regarding Charities and Politics," 62 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 643 (2012)
- "Once and Future Gift Taxation of Transfers to Section 501(c)(4) Organizations," 15 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol'y 289 (2012)
- "Regulating the Political Speech of Noncharitable Exempt Organizations after Citizens United," 10 Election L.J. 363 (2011)
- "What Critiques of Sarbanes-Oxley Can Teach about Regulation of Nonprofit Governance," 76 Fordham L. Rev. 765 (2007)
- "Post-Disaster Tax Legislation: A Series of Unfortunate Events," (with Richard Schmalbeck), 56 Duke L.J. 51 (2006)
- "The Interpretive Voice," 38 Loy. L.A. Law Rev. 2081 (2005)
- "ABA Section of Taxation Report of the Task Force on Judicial Deference" (with Irving Salem and Linda Galler, 57 The Tax Lawyer 717 (2004), reprinted in 104 Tax Notes 1231 (2004)
- "Churches, Politics, and the Charitable Contribution Deduction," 42 Boston College Law Review 843 (2001), reprinted in 52 Monthly Digest of Tax Articles 9 (2002)
- "The Law of the Word: Dictionary Shopping in the Supreme Court," 30 Az. St. L. Rev. 275 (1998)
In the News
Publications such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Politico frequently quote Professor Aprill on such diverse issues as tax strategy patents, the political activities of exempt organizations, laws applicable to religious organizations, and the use of dictionaries in statutory interpretation.
Public Service
Professor Aprill is a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Law Institute. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the USC Federal Tax Institute and the Academic Advisory Board, Tannenwald Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship. She is a former Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Tax Section, which has honored her with the Dana Latham Award for outstanding contribution to the community and to the legal profession in the field of taxation. She is a former Vice Chair and Council Director of the ABA Section of Taxation. She is also a former president of Temple Israel of Hollywood.