Balancing Family, Full-Time Practice, LLM
The Graduate Tax Program’s flexible enrollment options benefit students juggling families and full-time jobs.
The Graduate Tax Program (GTP) at Boston University School of Law is well-noted among LLM tax programs for its expansive course offerings and dedicated faculty, but the program’s flexible enrollment options set it apart. Individuals seeking an advanced law degree often juggle families and full-time jobs, so part-time and online enrollment options provide students the opportunities to earn an LLM while maintaining other responsibilities. Anne Beaudoin (LLM in Taxation ’13) and Benjamin Whitehouse (LLM in Taxation ’16) are just two of the countless GTP alumni who have benefited from the program’s flexibility.
Anne Beaudoin, US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management
As a student in her second year at Suffolk University School of Law, Anne Beaudoin took her first basic tax course. The class sparked her interest, and she realized how much she enjoyed learning about tax law. That summer, Beaudoin was hired as a summer intern at the US Tax Court in Washington, DC.
Her time working in DC deepened her interest in tax law, though she did not immediately enter the field. After graduating from Suffolk, she first practiced real estate law, and then worked at a small accounting firm for several years. After the birth of her two daughters, Beaudoin realized that an LLM in Taxation could benefit her career, and started contemplating going back to school. The GTP’s reputation and high rankings influenced Beaudoin’s decision to enroll at BU Law in 2010.
The year she enrolled, Beaudoin’s daughters were one and four years old. On top of her responsibilities as a parent, Beaudoin also had to juggle her full-time position at the accounting firm. The flexibility of the GTP helped make her balancing act possible. As a part-time student, Beaudoin generally took two classes per semester, and was able to complete her degree in three years. The option to take evening classes was also beneficial, so that she could focus on her job during the day.
“I was able to manage it by planning ahead and specifically blocking off time each week so that I could study and complete assignments,” she says. “But it also took a village of family members and sitters so that I could make it work.”
Beaudoin found the GTP’s courses to be richly diverse and challenging. She was particularly impressed by her professors’ real-world experience in their respective fields. “The professors are all among the best in their practice areas,” she says.
Today, Beaudoin manages the personal tax department for the upper Northeast division at US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, and her LLM has only been a benefit to her career. “The GTP helped me to get where I am today,” she says, “because it provided me with both the technical tax knowledge and the tools necessary to assist my clients.” In addition to working at US Trust, Beaudoin is also a teaching assistant for two GTP courses: Federal Income Tax II and Life Cycle of a Business Venture.
Benjamin Whitehouse, Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance
For the first ten years of his practice after law school, Benjamin Whitehouse worked primarily in civil and criminal litigation. In fact, while earning his JD at the University of Tennessee College of Law, he did not take a single tax law course. It was Whitehouse’s career that steered him toward BU Law’s GTP.
After accepting a role in the field of captive insurance—unique for its specific objective of letting businesses self-insure risks through a wholly owned insurance company—for Tennessee’s insurance regulator, Whitehouse realized that a greater knowledge of tax law would help his performance on the job. “There is significant interplay between captive insurance and the federal tax code, and I quickly noticed that nearly all of the captive insurance attorneys that I worked with had solid foundation in tax law and an LLM in tax,” he says. “I felt that if I wanted to be taken seriously in the industry, I needed to get a much better understanding of tax law and a respected credential in the field.”
With a full-time job and a family with young kids, Whitehouse was unable to take time off for school, so he decided to enroll in an online tax program. BU Law’s GTP stood out to him for several reasons: for one, there was an entirely online option, so he could earn his degree from his home in Tennessee. Plus, the GTP offered a variety of course formats, including a hybrid format, where online students access the recordings of traditional residential classes. “I had never taken a fully online academic course before, so I wasn’t ready to completely abandon the classroom setting,” Whitehouse says. The GTP’s exceptional reputation sealed the deal.
As an online student, Whitehouse took advantage of the many resources offered to him. Though summer courses were only offered in the online-only format, professors often provided informative video introductions or lectures in addition to written lecture materials and problem sets. During the fall and spring semesters, professors were able to “call on” Whitehouse by reading his written analysis of problem sets, and transcribed lectures were available as study aids. In general, professors were extremely accessible to Whitehouse, and would often host special interactive online classes.
Enrolled in two courses during the fall and spring semesters, and one course during summers—a schedule that maintained a manageable workload for a working parent—Whitehouse completed his degree in just over two years. “Being able to participate in the program online and without a set class time was key because I could not really work on schoolwork until after my boys were in bed,” he says. “I’m also very grateful for the flexibility in taking a reduced course load and stretching out my enrollment in the program.”
In addition to the GTP’s flexibility, Whitehouse is grateful for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which helped finance his studies. Between 2002 and 2007, Whitehouse served in the Navy, and earned full benefits under the bill, which provides up to 36 months of education benefits for those who have served and qualify.
Today, Whitehouse is an assistant general counsel with the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance, serving as the legal advisor for the Captive Insurance Section. Working with attorneys, business owners, and insurance professionals, he helps explain Tennessee’s captive insurance laws and regulations, and encourages them to establish their captives in the state. “To understand how captive insurance companies work and how they are structured, you first need a solid understanding of federal tax law—the GTP has given me that,” Whitehouse says. “I know I’ve been able to better serve the people of Tennessee and the companies that I help regulate because of this program.”
Reported by Johanna Gruber (CAS’17)