- About
About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 120-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
- Academics
Academics
Learn about our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and specialized areas.
Student Quick Links:
- Admissions
Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
- Students
Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
Student Quick Links:
- Careers
Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
- Alumni and Giving
Alumni and Giving
The global Trojan network of more than 10,000 law alumni and donors include recognized leaders in numerous fields who are deeply committed to supporting student and law school success.
- Admissions

Living the Overseas Experience
- ABOUT USC GOULD
- A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
- + HISTORY OF USC GOULD
- LAW, RACE AND EQUITY
- + NEWS
- + EVENTS
- BOARD OF COUNCILORS
- CONSUMER INFORMATION (ABA REQUIRED DISCLOSURES)
- VISIT US
- SOCIAL MEDIA
- + CONTACT US
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Rodney Lawrence, LLM 2016, discusses the ever-evolving, global nature of his work as a leader at KPMG
By Christina Schweighofer
.jpg)
Lawrence, who is the global leader for international tax at KPMG LLP, now in Chicago and a U.S. citizen, left New Zealand in the early 1990s after earning degrees in business and tax law at the University of Auckland, and has since lived in Europe and the United States and visited maybe 100 countries. Open-minded and curious about people and cultures, he adapts easily to new environments.
Staying up to date is half the work for anyone in Lawrence’s profession. In this sense, the year 2021 promises to be especially exciting, in part because of ongoing international efforts to update the global taxation system. These efforts, which are being led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), aim to update the global tax system, which has existed in its current form for decades, to reduce tax competition between countries and keep major players, particularly in the digitalized economy, from shifting income to low or no-tax jurisdictions. As Lawrence said, an agreement would “result in more equity, simplicity and predictability and give countries, such as developing countries, a fair shot at increasing tax revenues attributable to economic activity which arguably takes place in their country.”
Until the harmonization that the OECD is striving for has been decided and implemented, he expects “a proliferation of competing tax systems, such as digital services taxes” to address the underlying issues. “For people working cross-border,” he said, “keeping up to date with all these changes will be almost like whiplash for the next six to nine months.”
Lawrence, for one, thoroughly enjoys the fast-paced, ever-evolving nature of his work. “I find this a really fun part of the job,” he said. “You have consistently changing law, and different people that have different policy objectives behind those law changes.”
Before virtual meetings became the norm in the pandemic, Lawrence was traveling internationally every two weeks, about 200,000 miles a year, to meet the people he works with in person. “The greatest part of running a fast-growing global business is interacting with different people around the world,” he said. Not having left the state of Illinois since February, he now finds himself connecting with them even more than before. He is up early in the morning to talk with colleagues in Europe and late into the evening for those in Asia, and “people are no longer waiting for me to get off a plane.”
He readily admits that his previous, itinerant lifestyle came at a cost and is grateful that the pandemic has allowed him to connect more with his three adult children. “When you’re immersed in your job, you sometimes lose track of all those things that are more important than the job, like family and taking care of yourself,” he said, adding that he learned this from his partner, Cindy Musielak.
Aside from his leadership role at his firm, Lawrence also teaches international tax at KPMG's training programs and as an adjunct professor at DePaul University.
A member of the first class at USC Gould to graduate from the online Master of Laws (LLM) program, he said that the university’s commitment to diversity perfectly suited him. “I work with a lot of different people and enjoy getting different perspectives. USC was very open and embracing of that. It was also a great questioning environment. I felt very comfortable with the way the school promoted active thinking.” So comfortable, in fact, that he is now back at USC for an EdD in organizational change. His tentative dissertation topic promises to reflect his decades-long professional experience as much as our changing work culture: Managing global teams in a virtual world.
RECENT NEWS

BLSA hosts conversation with Terrence Roberts of the Little Rock Nine
March 3, 2021
Dr. Terrence Roberts of the Little Rock Nine shares his experiences with Gould students as part of the BLSA Trailblazers...

Erik Hovenkamp wins prestigious antitrust and IP paper award
March 3, 2021
Prof. Erik Hovenkamp has been awarded for his research in the field of antitrust law

Rescuing the American dream
February 24, 2021
Professor Ed Kleinbard’s new book proposes insurance as hedge against inequality