Last Father’s Day weekend, we brought you the first of a two-part profile of the Kahn father-son tax prof tandem.  Doug shared his thoughts on the special joys and challenges of raising a tax prof son.  This week, Jeff offers us his perspective on what it was like to grow up as the son of one of the true tax legends of our time:

I was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan and it was wonderful growing up in a university town with an academic family. As a child, I decided that I wanted to teach because I was always so proud when people stopped my father on the street and told him how much they enjoyed his class and how much he meant to them. I realized then what kind of positive effect a teacher can have on a student. 

Jeffrey H. Kahn (Santa Clara)

• B.A. 1994, Duke
• J.D. 1997, Michigan

After graduating from Duke where I double majored in Latin and Classics, I attended the University of Michigan Law School with the hope of becoming a law professor at some point in my career. At that time, I had no idea what area of law I wanted to specialize in. I did know, however, what area I did not want to enter: tax law. I decided when I entered law school that I would avoid tax as I did not want to be compared to my father. Fate (or my DNA) had other plans for me.

My corporate tax class, with Professor Terry Perris, was where everything clicked. I found that I enjoyed studying the complexity of the Code, regulations and business transactions, particularly the analytical nature of tax planning. After that class, I realized that I had no choice but to enter the family business of taxation.

After law school, I joined the tax department of the Chicago office of McDermott, Will & Emery. I very much enjoyed my two years there, particularly working with Lowell Yoder, a partner who specializes in international transactions. My entrance into teaching came when Kent Syverud, the dean of Vanderbilt and my former civil procedure professor at Michigan, asked me to teach two tax courses at Vanderbilt as a visiting professor. Jeff Schoenblum was a huge help to me in that first semester and made my visit an especially enjoyable one. That experience confirmed my desire to be a professor.

In the fall of 2000, I joined the faculty at Santa Clara. It is a wonderful place and I am surrounded by fantastic colleagues, including Brad Joondeph, the other tax specialist here. This past December, the faculty voted to grant me tenure and a promotion to associate professor. I have also been lucky to have had the opportunity to teach as a visitor at several schools including Stanford and Hastings. This fall, I will be visiting at the University of North Carolina.

I have particularly enjoyed the scholarship component of the academic profession. My scholarship, which has ranged from short Tax Notes pieces to general law review articles to co-authoring a student treatise, focuses on such divergent topics as the tax expenditure budget, the classification of deductions, the tax treatment of gifts and even the tax consequences to a reality television show winner (which, to my amusement, was noticed by the best friend of the contestant, who called to ask for advice). In addition, it has been a joy for me to have the opportunity to work with my father on both an article and a student treatise. While it is difficult at times being a tax professor and constantly comparing myself to him and his successes, I would not trade it for the world. I am always amazed at how lucky I am to have this job.

On a personal note, I am married to Jessica Kahn whom I met when we were both tennis instructors in Ann Arbor. Disregarding my warnings, Jessica attended the University of Chicago Law School and, when we first moved out here, joined Fenwick & West as a tax associate. She is now currently an assistant dean at Santa Clara and, despite doing more work than anyone else, finds time to teach legal profession and the school’s internship course. We live in San Jose with our three cats and our dog.

Each Saturday, TaxProf Blog shines the spotlight on one of the 700+ tax professors in America’s law schools. We hope to help bring the many individual stories of scholarly achievements, teaching innovations, public service, and career moves within the tax professorate to the attention of the broader tax community. Please email me suggestions for future Tax Prof Profiles. For prior Tax Prof Profiles, see here.