Kathleen Pfahlert is a Director with Alvarez & Marsal’s (A&M) Taxand practice in Dallas. She earned a bachelor’s degree in international business administration and a Doctor of Law from Florida International University. She returned to the classroom at University of Florida to earn her Master of Laws in 2017. 

In the Q&A below, Kathleen discusses how her A&M team espouses her favorite A&M core value daily, the access and support she receives at A&M, and her participation in her law school’s competition negotiation team.

You earned a Doctor of Law from Florida International University and a Master of Laws from the University of Florida. What led you to pursue a career in consulting? Were there any notable “ah-ha” moments that led you to that decision?

During law school I participated in, and later coached, the competition negotiation team. Unlike most other extracurricular activities offered in law school, this team was focused on out-of-court advocacy and discovering creative, mutually beneficial solutions for all parties involved. It was a challenging exercise, but I enjoyed exploring non-litigation opportunities that one could pursue with a law degree. After taking every tax class my J.D. program offered, I decided tax consulting was the perfect combination of the practical skills I learned from the negotiation team and the technical expertise I was developing in my LL.M. program. These diverse skills allow me to work with executive-level clients across a variety of industries to identify tax, trade, and incentive opportunities.

Tell us about your experience in Taxand and the skill sets you strengthened/acquired while at A&M?

Fresh out of school I originally joined A&M as a state and local tax associate with A&M’s Global Transaction Tax team, which provided me a broad platform to learn how tax affected various business operations in different industries, such as healthcare, manufacturing, telecommunications, and software technology. I started with very little state tax knowledge, but the fast-paced environment made learning on the job exciting. Now, as a Director with the Corporate Transformation Tax team, I partner with Performance Improvement teams to apply that state and local tax technical experience and effectuate enterprise-wide change at a corporate scale. I pride myself on supporting the empowerment of our clients as they address goals and priorities from reorganizing or transforming their business, unearthing synergies for merger integration, all the way through emerging from bankruptcy.

You recently re-joined A&M in November 2021. What were some of your reasons for returning? What would you tell someone who has left and is contemplating coming back?

The people! Returning to A&M felt like coming home. I re-joined an excellent group of tax professionals who truly exude A&M’s core values. Another primary reason I came back to A&M was to further develop my tax technical expertise by taking on stimulating advisory projects that my previous position didn’t provide. To anyone who has left A&M but is considering coming back, I would emphasize A&M’s continued development in caring for their employees. This is a firm that understands its investment in their workforce must be a top priority.

What do you enjoy most about working at A&M? Do you feel that our core values – quality, personal reward, objectivity, integrity and fun – stand true? How so?

I see A&M’s core values in practice all around me, and specifically I feel like my team espouses my favorite A&M core value (fun) daily. On our morning regroup calls we almost always start and end with laughter. In my experience since returning, the core values drive high-quality work, a dedication to continual learning, and a collaborative environment where knowledge and fun are exchanged freely. Overall, A&M’s core values have helped to cultivate a career where I wake up every day and am excited to see what I learn, and who I can help next.

How does A&M differ from other consulting firms?

I think A&M has a lot of differentiating qualities from other consulting firms, but for me the most important is the type of access I have here. It’s important to me to be part of a team that supports my development. Here, I have access to my upper management every day, and because of our team’s open-door policy, I know I have the support of my Senior Director and Managing Directors whenever I have questions. I also have access to a myriad of different projects, as a result of the cross-sharing of opportunities between Taxand and other A&M groups, such as CPI (Corporate Performance Improvement) or NACR (North American Commercial Restructuring). The variety of potential projects at A&M was a key factor in my decision to return.

What are some of your hobbies and passions outside of work?

I recently began playing piano again and have mastered the first minute of about 12 different songs. They tend to get more complicated after that one-minute mark! I also started learning French about two years ago and so far, I can discuss my name, where I’m from, what my job is, and that I would like a glass of red wine with cheese. Basically, I think I’m fluent.

What was your favorite class in law school and why? What was the most helpful/applicable class you took during law school?

In terms of my career, the most helpful class was constitutional law. While a required class for all first-year students, I didn’t realize at the time how much I’d be using the research skills and basic understanding of statutory origins or case law precedent I learned in that course to perform tax, trade, and incentive advisory services. My favorite “class” wasn’t actually a class, but my participation in the competition negotiation team. I was able to learn invaluable skills not only about standard negotiation techniques but also how body language, empathy, and confidence are some of the most important factors in an advisory setting.

What are some random fun facts about you?

I’m originally from New Hampshire and will sometimes still slip into the “New England-ah” accent; my sister is six years older than me, but we share the same birthday; and in 2015 myself and my team partner were the top ranked American team and placed fourth out of over 20 teams from 22 countries at the International Negotiation Competition held in Dublin, Ireland.