Professor Leyden is Special Trial Judge with the United States Tax Court. Judge Leyden started in her current position in June, 2016. Prior to becoming a Special Trial Judge, Judge Leyden served as the first Taxpayer Advocate for the New York City Department of Finance, creating that position and issuing the first Annual Report of the NYC Taxpayer Advocate in May 2016. Prior to that, Judge Leyden was the Director and Clinical Professor for the UConn Law School Tax Clinic, a low-income taxpayer clinic. She created and ran that clinic for 16 years. Judge Leyden was a former Chair of the ABA Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and the recipient of the ABA Janet Spragens Pro Bono Award in 2005 She has been a frequent speaker on tax practice and procedure and ethics. Judge Leyden also served as a Law Clerk to the Hon. Herbert Chabot, U.S. Tax Court, practiced in private law practice, and worked in two state departments of revenue. She is the author of Advocating for Low Income Taxpayers: A Clinical Studies Casebook and Practice Handboodk (5th ed. 2015) and a contributing author to Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS (6th ed.). Judge Leyden is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center LL.M. program.
