Joan Arnold

Phone: 610-519-5782

Courses and Seminars

• Inbound International Tax
• Taxation of Business Entities

Education

• New York University School of Law, LLM in Taxation
• Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, JD
• Wagner College, BA

Professor of Practice

Biography

Joan Arnold is returning to Villanova, having graduated from the Law School in 1978 and having taught from 1987-2008 as an adjunct in the JD and LLM programs. Arnold retired from the active practice of law at the end of 2025, having spent more than 30 years with the law firm of Troutman Pepper Locke, where for 27 years she chaired the Tax and Benefits practice group. For much of her time at the firm, she specialized in international tax matters, with a focus on cross-border M&A in the private equity industry. She developed her interest in international tax from the time she worked in the tax group at Citibank, starting as a summer associate in 1976 and leaving as a vice president, associate general tax counsel in 1986. She became a full-time lecturer in law at Rutgers Camden Law School, teaching a full panoply of tax and international business classes until 1995, when she joined Troutman Pepper Locke (then Pepper Hamilton and Scheetz).   

Arnold has held leadership positions in many tax organizations, including serving as chair of the Tax Section of the ABA, president of the American College of Tax Counsel, vice president and member of the executive committee of the USA branch of the International Fiscal Association and a long-time chair of the Philadelphia Tax Conference.

Arnold has written or edited over 35 submissions to the Treasury and the IRS on technical tax matters and policy issues, and has written several published articles on taxation. She is a frequent presenter, both in the US and internationally.

Practice Experience

• Partner and Chair of Tax and Benefits Practice Group, Troutman Pepper Locke LLP
• Lecturer in Law, Rutgers Camden School of Law
• Consultant in International Tax, KPMG, Washington National Tax Office
• Vice President, Assistant General Tax Counsel, Citibank NA
• Adjunct Professor, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
• Adjunct Professor, Temple University Beasley School of Law
• Adjunct Professor, University of Miami School of Law
• Adjunct Professor, Widener University Delaware Law School