Please meet the 2022 - 2025 Argrett Fellows. To learn more about the Fellowship including upcoming application deadlines, information about the benefits of being a Fellow, and other information, please visit the Argrett Fellowship page.
2022 – 2025 Loretta Collins Argrett Fellows
Jamal Aquil
Jamal is an Associate in the International Tax Group within KPMG’s Washington National Tax Office. In this role, he helps advise multinational public and private companies and private equity firms on tax matters related to U.S. inbound and outbound tax planning and cross-border transactional issues. Before joining KPMG, Jamal graduated from the University of Florida's Tax LL.M program and earned his law degree from SMU Dedman School of law. Before law school, Jamal graduated from Georgia State University, where he was also on the University's football team.
Gurnaina Chawla
Gurnaina is a clerk at the U.S. Tax Court. She has worked on various types of corporate transactions (including financing, mergers and acquisitions and real estate purchases) and private equity funds. In addition, she has worked on tax disclosures for public and private offerings. Her pro bono work includes conducting court fees research for the restoration of voting rights of people with convictions in Florida, drafting resentencing petitions for individuals imprisoned under habitual offender laws in Louisiana, and completing expungement applications for individuals with criminal records in Kentucky.
Gurnaina earned her J.D. from Cornell Law School and is a graduate of the State University of New York at Geneseo, where she earned a B.S. in Accounting. At Cornell, Gurnaina was an online editor of the Cornell Law Review and an instructor for the Cornell Prison Education Program. She served as the President of the South Asian Law Students Association and participated in the Low-Income Taxpayer Law and Accounting Practicum, through which she completed tax returns as a VITA volunteer.
Gurnaina is currently admitted to practice in New York State. She enjoys dancing, hiking, and listening to podcasts.
Fatima Garcia
Fatima Garcia is a Attorney at the IRS, Office of Chief Counsel in their Large Business and International group. Prior to joining the IRS, Office of Chief Counsel, Fatima worked as an Associate at an Am Law 100 firm and as a tax consultant at two Big 4 accounting firms.
Fatima received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, her J.D. from University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, and her LLM in Taxation from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Fatima is actively involved in the Hispanic legal community. She is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and currently serves as a Commissioner for the Latina Commission. Fatima also recently started a scholarship, Mi Camino Scholarship, which is dedicated to Latina students who want to pursue a career in the legal field.
Jessica Harris
Jessica Harris is the Practitioner-in-Residence of American University Washington College of Law’s Janet R. Spragens Federal Tax Clinic. Prior to joining American University, she was the Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic with Legal Services of Northern Virginia. While as a Director, she represented low-income taxpayers with their tax disputes with the IRS and the State of Virginia. She also provided educational presentations and resources to the surrounding communities on relevant tax issues, tax rights and tax benefits. While at Legal Services of Northern Virginia, she also practiced in family, landlord/tenant, consumer, bankruptcy, and unemployment law. As a staff attorney, she represented clients in circuit court, district court, federal court, and administrative hearings and provided educational presentations on multiple areas of law. She received her J.D. from Charleston School of Law and her B.S. from North Carolina A&T State University.
Christopher Lincoln
Christopher Lincoln is a lawyer and community advocate from the south side of Chicago. Christopher graduated from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL (now University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Law) in 2019 and earned his LL.M in Taxation from UIC School of Law in 2021. Following graduation, Christopher externed at the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel in downtown Chicago and served as Assistant Counsel to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. In the summer of 2020, Christopher founded his own law firm and represented individuals and small businesses with entity formations, tax planning, real estate transactions, and succession and estate planning. Since August 2023, Christopher has served as a clerk for the U.S. Tax Court.
Before launching his legal career, Christopher received his GED at 19 years old, fathered a son, founded Rule-Breakers, a nonprofit focused on the mentorship of children, drove Chicago Transit Authority buses, and authored two books: The Dad’s Club (2012) and What If (2013).
Jalisa Mathis
Jalisa Mathis is an attorney with IRS Office of Chief Counsel (Income Tax & Accounting) where she provides legal advice, litigation services and litigation support on tax matters involving gross income related issues, Code Section 1001 matters, and personal tax credits. Jalisa joined the Office of Chief Counsel in 2021, following several years with a premier boutique accounting firm in Washington, D.C., where she was instrumental in the firm’s private client practice for high networth individuals. She holds an LL.M from Northwestern University, a J.D. from Tulane University, and a B.A. from Xavier University of Louisiana. She is licensed to practice law in Maryland.
Chardea Murray
Chardea Murray is a senior attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel currently working for the Small Business/ Self-Employed Division. She is from Miami, Florida with over a decade of experience and involvement in the tax community.
As a Florida native, Chardea attended Florida A&M University College of Law, where professors inspired her to pursue a career in tax. After graduation in 2011, she matriculated into the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Law, formerly The John Marshall School of Law. At UIC, she studied a broad catalog of tax subjects and externed with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.
After earning her Master of Laws in Taxation in 2012, Chardea commenced her career in public service by serving as a volunteer tax attorney with legal aid. Thereafter, she became a Low Income Tax Clinic Director in 2013 and represented taxpayers in the United States Tax Court. In 2016, Chardea joined the IRS and worked as an Estate & Gift Tax attorney prior to joining Chief Counsel’s Office in 2019.
As an inaugural Loretta Collins Argrett Fellow, Chardea hopes to connect with mentors, engage with section members, and contribute to the fellowship’s mission to promote diversity and inclusion.
Alice Thomas
Professor Alice Martin Thomas is a tenured associate professor of law at Howard University School of Law where she teaches federal tax, contracts, and commercial law subjects. She teaches courses in Federal Individual Income Taxation, Nonprofit Law, Race and Tax Policy, Tax Externships, Contracts, Secured Transactions, and Sales. She leads the Tax Program, building partnerships with EY, KPMG, and Amazon, leading to the most robust tax curriculum in the history of the law school. Her key scholarship focuses on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. In 1989, she was the first graduate of Howard University's JD/MBA Dual Degree program, graduating cum laude and as a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Academic Honor Society. While a student, she was Editor-in-Chief of the Howard Law Journal and a member of the Charles Hamilton Houston Moot Court team. In practice, she specialized in international tax planning and controversy, commercial transactions, nonprofit law, and employment discrimination. She is a Carnegie Scholar, participant and then a mentor. She was the Interim Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. In addition, She helped create the Howard/Amazon Entertainment Program, serving as Faculty Lead for the School of Law, supporting two cohorts of law students. She is barred in the District of Columbia where she has litigated pro bono cases involving Loan Modifications and Reverse Mortgages.