Nicholas Mirkay

(Full Professor)

Nicholas Mirkay is the Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor of Business Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʿi. He served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from June 2021 to August 2025 and the inaugural Director of Faculty Research from 2018 to 2021. Professor Mirkay was previously a member of the faculties at Creighton University School of Law and the Delaware Law School of Widener University. He has received outstanding faculty teaching awards at all three law schools, primarily teaching tax, trusts & estates, and business law courses. Professor Mirkay’s early scholarship focused predominantly on tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, with more recent publications addressing the wealth gap and inequality in tax systems from class, ethnic, and racial perspectives. His current research and publications focus on economic dignity as a framework for evaluating tax policy and systems. His scholarly work has appeared in a number of notable journals including the North Carolina Law Review, Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy, William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, and the Wisconsin Law Review. He is also a contributing editor to the Nonprofit Law Prof Blog. Professor Mirkay regularly engages in community service, advising and assisting nonprofit organizations on state formation and federal tax exemption, and serves on several nonprofit boards of directors. Prior to entering legal academia, he had over eleven years of experience as a tax and business lawyer in two St. Louis, Missouri law firms, the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Tax Court. He received his LL.M. in Taxation, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. degree from University of Missouri at Columbia, and bachelor of science in business administration, magna cum laude, from Saint Louis University.