Liberty Law alumna selected as Nolan Fellow in ABA Section of Taxation

Liberty University School of Law alumna Sarah Green (’20) is continuing to make strides in the law field after being selected as a 2025-26 John S. Nolan Fellow for the American Bar Association Section of Taxation.

The Nolan Fellowship honors individuals who demonstrate a commitment to the tax section and are viewed as potential leaders. In addition to the fellowship, Green is a tax controversy attorney at the global law firm Dentons, a vice chair of the ABA Standards of Taxation Committee, and has been recognized in “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America” every year since 2023.

Green’s interest in tax law began at Liberty, where School of Law Dean Timothy Todd and Professor Emeritus F. Philip Manns were foundational in her education of the subject.

“Dean Todd and Professor Manns are two of the brightest minds in tax that I know,” she said. “I had the opportunity to get to know Professor Manns and Dean Todd during my time at Liberty, and those two invested in me so much. They gave me such a solid foundation for tax in general, the practice of law, and being a Champion for Christ.”

Green was also inspired by seeing Todd, a former Nolan Fellow himself, become a leader in the field as a Liberty Law alumnus.

“We are very proud of Sarah and for the impact that she is making in the tax community,” Todd said. “Nolan Fellows are recognized as rising leaders in the ABA Tax Section and tax community. Sarah’s selection and recognition as a Nolan Fellow demonstrates the caliber of students and alumni who attend and graduate from Liberty Law.”

During her time at Liberty, Green was an active member of the student community by being the president of the Student Bar Association, a member of the Women’s Law Society, and participating in negotiation competitions, where she competed in national tournaments twice. She was also personally mentored by Professor Barbara Mouly, starting in her first year of law school. Mouly would meet weekly with Green and a few other students to spend time in prayer and fellowship.

“It was really incredible to be mentored by her spiritually but also as a future lawyer,” Green said. “That was such a meaningful time with her, and that wasn’t an isolated event. I could tell stories about every single one of the professors I had of how they invested in me as a future lawyer, how they invested in me as a person, and more importantly, how they invested in my faith.”

While Green initially worked as a law clerk after graduation for a trial judge in Madison County, Ala., she was introduced through a mutual connection to a partner of the tax controversy team for Dentons, a global firm with expertise in tax law and various other legal matters, and she was invited for an interview. Green was offered a position as a member of their tax practice, and she is now a senior managing associate.

“It is the honor of my lifetime to work here,” she said. “The people I work with every day are just incredible. The partners I work with are nationally known for their expertise and have really taken it upon themselves to mentor me, which has been so incredible. I’m really grateful for them.”

As a vice chair on the Standards of Taxation Committee in the American Bar Association, Green was nominated for the Nolan Fellowship by her colleagues — the chair and other vice chair of the committee.

“I was extremely honored and humbled for them to even think about nominating me,” Green said.

Her nominators gathered letters of recommendation from leaders in the tax section of the ABA, and the Nolan Fellowship committee determined she exhibited the qualities they were looking for in a fellow.

“It was truly shocking to me to be selected for this, since I’m very much at the beginning part of my career,” Green said. “To be recognized as a Nolan Fellow is such an honor, and I don’t even know how else to describe it except pure shock.”

As a fellow, Green will participate in all the ABA tax section meetings.

“It’s really an opportunity to continue to get to know people throughout the section and become more involved in the ABA and in leadership,” she said.

“My firm is incredibly supportive of my desire to be involved in the ABA, which I really appreciate,” Green added. “That’s allowed me to meet people from around the country and around the world and work with people in different facets of the law, which has been really, really awesome.”

Green said Liberty taught her the importance of being a Champion for Christ through the practice of law, something she continues to value in her current work.

“Liberty taught me to love people and to find people where they are at, and for me, that is being a Champion for Christ,” she said. “It’s not like people are coming to a lawyer because they are having a great day; usually, they’re having a not great day. Being able to sit with people and work through situations with them from a different perspective of how this is eternally going to matter is really rewarding.”