UM Directory

Dean Elaine Gagliardi serves as Dean of the Alexander Blewett III School of Law. As a professor she taught Business Organizations, Business Transactions, Estate Planning,: Wills and Trusts, Taxation of Estates and Gifts, and Tax Exempt Organizations.  She also served as a clinic faculty supervisor for the transactional clinics.  

Prior to teaching, Dean Gagliardi practiced in the areas of estate, business and tax planning with the law firms of Perkins Coie, Seattle, Washington, and Day, Berry & Howard, Hartford, Connecticut.  She also was Of Counsel to George Law Offices, Missoula, Montana, where she obtained an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell.  She clerked for The Honorable William J. Jameson, Senior Judge, United States District Court for Montana, and for the Honorable James R. Browning then Chief Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Professor Gagliardi earned her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, receiving the Harry J. Ruddick award for distinction in the graduate tax program and serving on the New York Tax Law Review as a graduate editor.  She holds her J.D. with high honors from the University of Montana School of Law, where she also served on the editorial board of the Montana Law Review.  She received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.

Education

LL.M. in Taxation, New York University

J.D., The University of Montana School of Law

B.A. in Economics, Yale University.

Current Position

•    Business Organizations
•    Business Transactions
•    Federal Estate and Gift Taxation
•    Estate Planning: Wills and Trusts
•    Tax Exempt Organizations

Courses Taught

• Business Organizations
• Business Transactions
• Federal Estate and Gift Taxation
• Estate Planning: Wills and Trusts
• Tax Exempt Organizations
• Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Clinc Advisor
• University of Montana General Counsel Clinic Advisor

Publications

PRESENTATIONS

• ABA Real Property, Probate, Trusts and Estates Section, Professor’s Corner, Moore on Powell: Gross Estate Inclusion of Limited Partnership Interests, Webinar, February 2021, co-presented with Prof. J. Martin Burke
• Wealth Transfer Tax Update, University of Montana Tax Institute, Missoula, MT, October 2020
• Choosing an Estate Planning Entity: Trust or Family Limited Partnership, Annual Creighton Law Review Symposium, Omaha, NE, February 2020
• Annual Federal Wealth Transfer Tax Update, ABA Section of Taxation midyear Meeting, Boca Raton, FL, February 2020
• Married, Divorced and Remarried: Planning for Changes in Life, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Rocky Mountain Meeting, Jackson, WY, September 2019, co presented with Professor James Delaney
• Annual Federal Wealth Transfer Tax Update, ABA Section of Taxation Midyear Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 2019
• Using the Family Limited Partnership in 2018 and Beyond, Seattle Estate Planning Seminar, Seattle, WA, November 2018
• Using the Family Limited Partnership in 2018 and Beyond, University of Montana Tax Institute, Missoula, Montana, October 2018
• Estate Planning in Uncertain Times, Portland Tax Forum, Portland, OR, April 2017
• Annual Federal Wealth Transfer Tax Update, ABA Section of Taxation Midyear Meeting, Orlando, FL, January 2017
• Consistent Basis Reporting, Montana Tax Institute, Co-presented with Professor Martin Burke, October 2016
• Annual Federal Wealth Transfer Tax Update, ABA Section of Taxation Midyear Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, January 2016

TREATISES AND BOOKS

Deal Drafting Foundations: A transactional Lawyer’s Role in Deals and Contract Drafting (Carolina Academic Press 2023 (co-authored with Jonathon S. Byington)

How to Save Time and Taxes Handling Estates (LexisNexis)(current author, previously authored by Clark), updated bi-annually.

Modern Estate Planning (2d ed., LexisNexis 2003) (co-author with J. Martin Burke & Michael Friel), updated tri-annually.

Question and Answers Federal Estate and Gift Taxation,3d Ed. (Carolina Academic Press 2020), co-authored with J. Delaney

ARTICLES

Professor Gagliardi’s most recent articles include:

Gagliardi, Estate Planning Choice of Wealth Management Entity: The Limited Partnership as an Alternative to the Trust, Vol. 53, No. 4 Creighton Law Review 695 (Sept. 2020)

Gagliardi, The Family Limited Partnership in 2018: Powell, Cahill and Income Tax Basis, Federal Tax Journal Quarterly 1 (December 2018, LexisNexis)

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Amendments to Federal Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Taxes, published as part of LexisNexis Explanation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (January 2018)

Anticipating Change and Responding to Recent Wealth Transfer Tax Developments, Lexis Federal Tax Journal Quarterly 1 (Sept. 2017, LexisNexis)

Consistent Basis Reporting:  Are Proposed Regulations Consistent with Congress's Basis for Enactment?, Lexis Federal Tax Journal Quarterly (Lexis September 2016)

The Magical Power of Appointment: Allows Trustor to Achieve Targeted Tax Consequences and Flexibility of Control, Lexis Federal Tax Journal Quarterly 1.01 (March 2016)

Proving Estate and Gift Tax Value: Evolving Lessons from Recent Cases, Lexis Federal Tax Journal Quarterly 2.01 (September 2015)

Flipping the Lens of Estate Planning: An Examination of the Effectiveness of Lifetime Transfers to Achieve Federal and State Tax Savings, 2014 Lexis Federal Tax Journal Quarterly, § 2.01 et. Seq. (Matthew Bender)

Treasury Transforms the Portability Election:  Making the DSUE Amount a Reliable Planning Tool,  Lexis Federal Tax Journal Quarterly, Section 4 (September 2012) 

The Deceased Spousal Unused Exclusion Amount:  Now You See It, Now You Don’t, Lexis Federal Tax Journal Quarterly, Section 2 (June 2012).

Elaine Gagliardi on Appeals Settlement Guidelines for Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies, LexisNexis Expert Commentaries (Feb 29, 2008)

Remembering the Creditor at Death: Aligning Probate and Nonprobate Transfers, 41 Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal 819 (2007).

Use of Marital Deduction Trusts Achieves Planning Goals, 104 Tax Notes 1043 (Aug. 27, 2004).

New Guidance on Annual Exclusion Gifts of Entity Interests, 2003 Tax Notes 156-24 (Aug. 13, 2003).

Strangi III: Right Answer Wrong Reason? Or, Just Plain Wrong?, 2003 Tax Notes 135-17 (July 14, 2003).

Economic Substance in the Context of Federal Estate and Gift Tax: The Internal Revenue Service Has It Wrong, 64 Mont. L. Rev. 389 (2003).

SERVICE

• Clerkship Committee (AY 2025-2026)
• Head of the Dean’s Advisory Council- 2022-current
• Ex Officio of Appointments Committee 2022-Current
• Ex Officio of Strategic Planning Committee 2022-Current