Taxation & Estate Planning

Brown: The Growing Organization of the Legal Blogosphere

Posted on May 24, 2010
Jay Brown (Denver), No Longer Nasty Brutish and Short: The Growing Organization of the Legal Blogosphere: The legal blogosphere began, as we have discussed, as a Hobbsian state of nature. See Of Empires, Independents, and Captives: Law Blogging, Law Scholarship, and Law School Rankings...

Congress's Carried Interest Tax Folly

Posted on May 24, 2010
Wall Street Journal op-ed: Congress's Carried Interest Tax Folly: The Latest Soak-the-Rich Scheme Will Mean Less Capital Investment and Fewer New Jobs, by John Rutledge (Claremont Graduate University): Nero fiddled while Rome burned, but at least he didn't strike the match...

Baingridge: Ranking Faculty Quality

Posted on May 24, 2010
Stephen Bainbridge (UCLA), Ranking Faculty Quality: The core problem is to separate out three levels of metrics: those that measure the quality of an individual article (an article level metric), those that measure the quality of an individual scholar (individual level metrics), and those that measure the quality of a...

Waggoner: Critique of U.S. House Bill 2454 on Climate Change

Posted on May 23, 2010
Michael Waggoner (Colorado) has published Critique of U.S. House Bill 2454 on Climate Change, 2 Amsterdam L. Forum 61 (2010). Here is the abstract: This article criticizes the recently-passed House Bill 2454 on climate change for: (a) its harms to U.S...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Christensen: Lawyering Skills Grades as the Strongest Predictor of Law School Success

Posted on May 23, 2010
Leah M. Christensen (Thomas Jefferson) has published The Power of Skills: An Empirical Study of Lawyering Skills Grades as the Strongest Predictor of Law School Success (or in Other Words, It's Time for Legal Education to Get Serious About Integrating Skills Training Throughout the Law School Curriculum If We Care...

Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

Posted on May 23, 2010
This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's, with the #4 and #5 papers switching positions: 1. [1419 Downloads] Pursuing a Tax LLM Degree: Why and When?, by Paul L. Caron (Cincinnati), Jennifer M. Kowal (Loyola-L...

Ex-IRS Agent's Reality TV Show: IRS Hitman

Posted on May 23, 2010
IRS Hitman Reality TV Show Press Release, Wanted by America, the IRS (+) Hitman Reality TV Show is Here Going Concern, Just So You're Aware, An Ex-IRS AGent has a Reality TV Show

'No Taxation Without Representation' in the American Woman Suffrage Movement

Posted on May 22, 2010
Juliana Tutt (J.D. 2010, Stanford) has published Note, "No Taxation Without Representation" in the American Woman Suffrage Movement, 62 Stan. L. Rev. 1473 (2010). Here is the abstract: "No taxation without representation" has lasting appeal as a political catchphrase...

The Strict Liability Standard and the Economic Substance Doctrine

Posted on May 22, 2010
Mik Shin-Li (J.D. 2011) has published Note, Strictly Wrong as a Tax Policy: The Strict Liability Standard in Noneconomic Substance Transactions, 78 Fordham L. Rev. 2009 (2010). Here is the abstract: This Note analyzes the propriety of using a strict liability standard to assess tax penalties for transactions lacking economic...

Did Church's 'Tweets' Violate § 501(c)(3)?

Posted on May 22, 2010
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has sent a letter to the IRS asking it to investigate whether Oasis Church in Los Angeles violated § 501(c)(3) by participating in a political campaign on behalf of a candidate for elective public office by using Twitter and its website to...

An Unwelcome Guest at Stetson's Graduation Ceremony

Posted on May 22, 2010
Following up on my post on over 100 law school commencement speakers: Chronicle of Higher Education, An Unwelcome Guest at Graduation: [A]t the Stetson University College of Law [graduation ceremony], ...students were on the stage, presenting the class gift, when a ripple of activity passed through the faculty section...

U.S. News Responds to TaxProf Blog Post by Preventing Law Schools From Gaming Employed at Graduation Data

Posted on May 21, 2010
U.S. News & World Report has responded to my post last week, Did 16 Law Schools Commit Rankings Malpractice?, in U.S. News Takes Steps to Stop Law Schools From Manipulating the Rankings: The problem with being totally transparent about key methodology details about U...

ABA Invites Comments on Proposal to Include Student Learning Outcomes in Accreditation Standards

Posted on May 21, 2010
The Standards Review Committee of the ABA Section on Legal Education invites comments on proposed revisions to Chapter 3 of the Standards for Approval of Law Schools dealing with student learning outcomes. Comments are due July 1 to Charlotte (Becky) Stretch...

Conference on The Effects of the Housing Crisis on State and Local Governments

Posted on May 21, 2010
The Tax Policy Center and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy host a two-day conference beginning today on Effects of the Housing Crisis on State and Local Governments: This conference will explore how state and local governments are responding to the severe budgetary shortfalls precipitated by the sharp decline in housing...

NY Times: Hedge Funds Buy Tax Whistle-Blower Claims

Posted on May 21, 2010
New York Times, Whistle-Blowers Become Investment Option for Hedge Funds, by David Kocieniewski: Hedge funds have found a new market to invest in: whistle-blowers. Informants who turn in tax cheats have to wait years to get their share of any reward from the IRS?s recently expanded whistle-blower program...

CBPP Criticizes Proposed Estate Tax Deal

Posted on May 21, 2010
Following up on my recent posts: Estate Tax Deal in the Works? (May 12, 2010) Senate Estate Tax Deal Falls Apart (May 19, 2010) Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Stalled Proposal to Cut Estate Tax Further Is Deeply Flawed and Should Not Be Revived: A proposal that several senators...

Atlanta Tax Partner Arrested for Putting Surveillance Camera Under Woman's Desk

Posted on May 21, 2010
James Frederick Tenney, 57, a tax partner at the Atlanta law firm of Merritt & Tenney, has been charged with putting a surveillance camera under the desk of a woman who worked at his firm. The ABA Journal notes that "[h]is law firm biography says he is married with three...

Call for Papers: Jurisprudential Perspectives of Tax Law

Posted on May 21, 2010
John Prebble (Victoria University of Wellington) and Marco Greggi (L?Universita? degli Studi di Ferrara) have invited colleagues to attend and to submit proposals for a colloquium in Ferrara, Italy, on Jurisprudential Perspectives of Taxation Law on September 7-8, 2010: The colloquium will focus on analytical and descriptive legal philosophy as...

LSAT = Law School Affluence Test?

Posted on May 21, 2010
The Huffington Post, LSAT: The Next "Wealth Test" of College Seniors, by Noah Berry (Class of 2011, Columbia University): [W]hen I looked online to sign up for one of these lauded [LSAT] prep courses, I found that their cost ranged from $1200 to over $9000 -- with in-class hours ranging...

Richard Gershon Named Dean at Mississippi

Posted on May 21, 2010
Following up on my prior post: the Associated Press reports that Tax Prof I. Richard Gershon (former Dean of Texas-Wesleyan and founding Dean of Charleston) has been named Dean at the University of Mississippi School of Law, effective July 1. (Hat Tip: Dan Filler...

IRS Audits University of Georgia Over UBTI

Posted on May 20, 2010
The IRS is auditing the University of Georgia to determine if it has unrelated business income from its catering and food, golf course, parking, and continuing education services. Associated Press Atlanta Journal-Constitution AJC Blog Athens Banner-Herald (Hat Tip: Woody McNair...

SSRN Tax Professor Rankings

Posted on May 20, 2010
SSRN has updated its monthly rankings of 650 American and international law school faculties and 1,500 law professors by (among other things) the number of paper downloads from the SSRN data base. Here is the new list (through May 18, 2010) of the Top 25 U...

Senate Holds Hearing Today on The Role of Tax Incentives in Clean Technology

Posted on May 20, 2010
The Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure of the Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on Clean Technology Manufacturing Competitiveness: The Role of Tax Incentives. Here are the witnesses scheduled to testify: Mark Mazur (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis, U...

Students' First Amendment Right to Drop the F-Bomb

Posted on May 20, 2010
Inside Higher Ed, When Students Drop the F-Bomb: At Hinds Community College, swearing can get you in trouble. "Public profanity, cursing and vulgarity" are all punishable with a $25 fine for a first offense, and a $50 fine for a second offense. Further, the offense of "flagrant disrespect" (which may...

NALP Reports Class of 2009 Employed at 9 Months Data: 88.3%

Posted on May 20, 2010
NALP today released employment data for the Class of 2009: 88.3% of the 40,833 graduates were employed as of February 1, 2010. Above the Law, New NALP Numbers Are Out ? and as Bad as Ever American Lawyer, NALP Employment Numbers: What to Believe? Wall Street Journal Law Blog, The...

Johnson: Intermountain, Interpretive Regulations, and Brand X

Posted on May 20, 2010
Steve Johnson (UNLV) shares his thoughts on Intermountain Insurance Service of Vail, LLC v. Commissioner, 134 T.C. No 11 (May 6, 2010), in Intermountain, Interpretive Regulations, and Brand X. Here is the Introduction: On May 6, the Tax Court unanimously, but on divided rationales, invalidated temporary Treasury regulations retroactively extending...

Law School Graduation Honors Requirements

Posted on May 20, 2010
Check out this interesting chart on law school graduation honors requirements at the Top 68 law schools in the U,S. news law school rankings.

CEO Survey of Best/Worst States for Business

Posted on May 20, 2010
Chief Executive magazine has published its annual survey of CEOs for their opinions of the best and worst states for business. 600 CEOs rated states on a wide range of criteria from taxation and regulation to workforce quality and living environment, Here are the Top 10 and Bottom 5 states:...

Law School Commencement Speakers

Posted on May 19, 2010
Arizona: Raul Castro (Former Arizona Governor and U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Bolivia, and El Salvador) Boston College: Scott Brown (Member, U.S. Senate) Boston University: Eric Holder (Attorney General, United States) Brooklyn: Michael Bloomberg (Mayor, New York City) Campbell: Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean, UC-Irvine) Capital: Dennis McCarthy (U...

House Holds Hearing Today on Tax and Internet Gambling

Posted on May 19, 2010
The House Ways & Means Committee holds a hearing this morning on Tax Proposals Related to Legislation to Legalize Internet Gambling. From the hearing announcement: The Committee will discuss the current tax laws and reporting requirements applicable to wagering in the United States...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.