Michelle P Scott J.D. Expertise: Taxation, Nonprofit Law, Public Policy, and Corporate Governance Education: Bryn Mawr College, Harvard Law School Location: New York, NY Highlights Member of The Balance's Financial Review BoardAttorney with decades of experience and expertise in corporate governance, taxation, nonprofit law, and public policy.Former general counsel for international development NGO and national environmental and healthcare nonprofits, VP/corporate counsel for Prudential Financial, legislative counsel for Joint Committee on Taxation of US Congress; private law practice in New York City and Washington, DC.Long-time member of Executive Committee of NYS Bar Association Tax Section; appointed to IRS Commissioner’s Advisory Committee; guest lecturer at the University of North Carolina Law School and Baruch College. Experience Michelle Scott has practiced tax law at private firms in New York and Washington, DC. She has extensive legal and management experience in governance, nonprofit law, and government relations, having served as general counsel of FAIR Health, Inc., vice president and general counsel of the National Audubon Society, and vice president, general counsel & secretary of the East-West Management Institute (EWMI), an NGO that conducts development programs in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Since leaving her position at EWMI, Michelle was elected to its Board of Directors, which she currently chairs.For almost two decades, Michelle was vice president and corporate counsel for Prudential Financial, responsible for significant investment transactions and tax planning, and also served as general counsel of The Prudential Foundation. Earlier she was legislation counsel for the Joint Committee on Taxation of the U.S. Congress.Michelle has spoken and written extensively on tax and nonprofit law, and has advised—and testified for—federal and state legislative and regulatory committees. A long-time member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section, she co-chaired committees on tax-exempt organizations, income from real property, and commodities and financial futures, and was appointed to the IRS Commissioner’s Advisory Committee on Tax-Exempt Organizations. “Tax law may be the last general practice area because the Internal Revenue Code touches everyone.” Education Michelle received her JD degree from Harvard Law School. She earned her BA in French Literature from Bryn Mawr College and studied in Paris, France, at L’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. About The Balance The Balance, a Dotdash Meredith brand, makes money easy to understand. We give people tools they need to not only make smart financial decisions but also prepare for the experiences they will have along the way. Our team of expert writers and editors have extensive qualifications in the topics they cover, and many of them have MBAs, PhDs, CFPs, and other advanced degrees and professional certifications. We require our writers to use primary sources in their articles, which are also approved by our Financial Review Board and fact-checked. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.