Jennifer Bird-Pollan, Ph.D.

Jennifer Bird-Pollan joined the UK Law faculty in 2010 and is now the Judge William T. Lafferty Professor of Law. She teaches Federal Income Tax, Estate & Gift Tax, International Tax, Partnership Tax, Corporate Tax, and a Seminar in Tax Policy. Professor Bird-Pollan’s research lies at the intersection of tax law and philosophy, specifically with regard to the taxation of wealth transfers and issues of sovereignty in international taxation. 

Professor Bird-Pollan received her JD from Harvard Law School, her PhD in Philosophy from Vanderbilt University, and her BA in Philosophy and French from Penn State University. Before law school, she taught undergraduate philosophy courses at Vanderbilt and at Harvard College.

Prior to coming to UK, Professor Bird-Pollan practiced law as an attorney in the tax department of the law firm of Ropes & Gray in Boston, focusing primarily on partnership tax and non-profit tax law.

Professor Bird-Pollan won the College of Law Duncan Teaching Award in 2017, and served as the 2014-2015 Fulbright Visiting Professor at the Vienna University of Business and Economics in Vienna, Austria.  She has been a visiting professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law and the University of Cologne. A member of the Kentucky chapter of the New Leaders Council and a Kentucky Colonel, Professor Bird-Pollan assists with the College of Law VITA program, and serves as the faculty advisor to the Tax Law Society and the Women’s Law Caucus.  In 2018, Professor Bird-Pollan was elected Chair of the University Senate Council at UK.