Master of Legal Studies (MLS in Taxation)

This course is designed to introduce distinctive aspects of the U.S. legal system. The goal is to learn how law is found, made and changed in the U.S., rather than to focus on any particular area of law. The objective is to learn largely through assuming the role of a lawyer resolving a practical client problem with U.S. legal sources, methods and institutions. The course is organized by various sources of law: common law; statutes and regulations; constitutional law and case law; and interpreting and applying enacted law. In addition, the jury trial and the importance of procedure are covered. In each subject, the class formulates what appears to be distinctive in the U.S. system.

Offered: Summer, Fall, Spring

This skills course introduces students to a variety of concepts related to the practice of law, including: gathering information and working with clients; researching and finding answers to legal questions by locating, reviewing, and synthesizing pertinent authority; performing a predictive legal analysis by employing analogical reasoning techniques; providing effective advice in a structured piece of professional legal writing; negotiating a settlement of a dispute with opposing counsel; working with legal forms and transactional documents; and performing a thorough critique of a third party’s legal writing. Students will learn these concepts through a combination of live and asynchronous coursework, and students will also learn how to locate, update, and evaluate varied sources of law through complementary exercises in a major legal research platform. In addition to responding to written prompts in the asynchronous lecture series, students will complete four major assignments in the course: the aforementioned research module; a predictive research memorandum; a transactional document (settlement agreement); and a group presentation of a legal writing critique. The class will be graded on a modified pass/fail basis: HP (3.94), P, LP (2.98), F (2.50).

Offered: Summer, Fall, Spring

This course is a survey of the federal income taxation of individuals, with consideration of the nature of income, when and to whom income is taxable, exclusions from the tax base, deductions, credits and the tax consequences of property ownership and disposition. The instructor emphasizes tax policy and statutory interpretation. Students will work extensively with the Internal Revenue Code.

Offered: Summer, Fall, Spring

This course provides an in-depth overview of the state and local taxation of businesses and individuals. Topics include state corporation income taxes, franchise taxes, state sales and use taxes, real and personal property taxes, and state and local personal income taxes. The course also includes a survey of common state and local tax procedures, and state and local tax related constitutional issues.

Offered: Summer

This course will examine the administrative and judicial procedures for resolving federal tax disputes. Covered topics will include: Organization of the Internal Revenue Service, legal and ethical responsibilities of tax practitioners, administrative appeals procedures, Tax Court litigation, civil penalties, statutes of limitation, and collection procedures.

Offered: Spring

This course involves an intensive study of the statutes, regulations, and case law governing the taxation of corporations. Topics covered include the tax consequences of corporate formation and capital structure, distributions to shareholders, redemptions, liquidations, and taxable dispositions of stock and assets.

Offered: Fall

This course is designed to teach you about the Federal Estate and Gift Tax Systems, and the interrelationship between the two taxes. By the end of the course, students enrolled in Federal Estate and Gift Taxation will be able to. Understand the policies of the Federal Estate and Gift Tax; Have a working knowledge of the Gift Tax; Have a working knowledge of the Estate Tax; Be able to define Taxable Estate, Gross Estate, Excludable Gifts and Taxable Gifts; and Understand some of the estate planning opportunities that arise out of the imposition of the Federal Estate and Gift Taxes.

Offered: Spring

This course is designed to introduce the basic concepts of tax accounting and financial disclosure to tax lawyers with little to no prior exposure to accounting. Emphasis will be on the contents of standard financial statements and accounting dialect (debit and credit). The course will examine the legal consequences of accounting decisions and the lawyer’s role in financial statement analysis. The final part of the course will focus on applying tax accounting concepts in the legal setting, including responding to auditor inquiries, asset valuation issues, and corporate equity issues.

Offered: Spring

This course will provide a substantive overview of ERISA fiduciary law that governs qualified retirement and welfare benefit plans. The sources of fiduciary law such as the ERISA statute, regulations, and Department of Labor guidance will be explained. Emphasis will be placed on the proper identification of fiduciaries, the fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty, prohibited transactions and major exemptions, personal liability under the law, and the recent regulations regarding disclosure of fees and expenses. Special focus will be given to recent Supreme Court and Circuit Court cases that have significantly changed the ERISA fiduciary landscape. Finally, a brief overview will be provided of typical ERISA litigation that a student is likely to see in their future practices. The course will be relevant for any student interested in employee benefits, employment law, labor law, business law, or securities law as they will leave the course with the proper understanding of how to advise clients in avoiding the major compliance pitfalls of being an ERISA fiduciary.

Offered: Spring

The course is intended to provide students with a thorough knowledge of and deep insight into contract law problems and solutions in an international perspective; specific attention will be given to the distribution contract, given its importance and its wide use in international relations. This course consists of two parts. The first part is dedicated to the analysis and comparison of the most used contractual clauses in the different legal systems; in this context the principles governing the choice of the law applicable to the contract, as well as the issues related to jurisdiction, will also be examined. The second part favors a practical approach: students will negotiate and draft an international distribution contract, applying the principles that have been highlighted and analyzed in the first part. During the course it will also be highlighted the way in which the major differences between the common law systems and the civil law systems affect the formation, the application and the consequences of the non-application of the international contract.

Offered: Summer

This class will analyze tax aspects of tax exempt organizations and is designed to cover issues that attorneys in a tax related practice may encounter. This class covers several tax-related issues applicable to organizations exempt under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, including issues related to the organization, qualification, and governance of tax-exempt organizations. The course will also cover tax-related issues applicable to public charities, including classification, lobbying and political campaign activities, private inurement and excess benefit, and unrelated business income. In addition, the course will cover tax-related issues applicable to private foundations, including self-dealing, minimum distribution requirements, excess business holdings, jeopardizing investments, and taxable expenditures. Finally, the course will analyze the income and estate tax planning issues that arise when forming a tax exempt entity, including a study of the formation of Charitable Remainder Trusts, Pooled Income Funds, Gifts of a Remainder Interest in a Personal Residence, Charitable Gift Annuities, Charitable Lead Trusts, Private Non-Operating Foundations, Private Operating Foundations, and Supporting Organizations. Included in this analysis are issues that arise when drafting the documents.

Offered: Fall

This course will cover the basic rules for taxing partnerships under the Internal Revenue Code. It will include lectures and problems addressing entity classification, formation, distributive share, allocation, distribution, inside basis, outside basis, liabilities, liquidations, transactions between a partner and the partnership, and acquisitions and dispositions of partnership interests. Preparation will be required prior to each session and failure to do so will almost certainly impair a student’s ability to participate fully in successive sessions.

Offered: Fall

This course is intended to assist students in expanding and refining their legal research and writing skills, focusing on sources and forms of legal presentation characteristic of U.S. tax practice. In addition to techniques for effectively organizing and constructing persuasive tax-related legal arguments, the class will cover research strategies, the range and types – as well as the optimal uses – of primary and secondary tax resources (electronic and otherwise), and hierarchies of administrative and judicial tax precedent. The course will include a series of sequential writing and research exercise assignments designed to enable students to gain experience applying the principles discussed in lectures and live class sessions.

Offered: Summer

After completion of this course, students will have gained practical legal skills, including application of legal research and writing methods and a deeper understanding of substantive law through a written research paper of at least 30 pages in length, double-spaced. In doing so, students will apply all aspects of legal research and writing to an approved legal issue, which will not only hone students' legal research and writing skills but expand their knowledge of the selected legal topic.

Offered: Summer, Fall, Spring

This externship course offers students an opportunity to learn advocacy and litigation skills working under the supervision of field supervisors in government law offices or legal departments of non-profits/corporations. Students have the opportunity to engage in various phases of lawyering practice, including interviewing, counseling, investigation, drafting, negotiation, litigation, and settlement. Depending upon the placement, externs work on civil, criminal, lawmaking, or policymaking matters. Students also meet regularly in small groups and individually with the instructor. Students who are not in good standing (for either academic or disciplinary reasons) are not eligible to participate in an externship. The externship has a different drop deadline than other Law School courses. A student will not be allowed to drop any externship without good cause and the instructor's permission.

Offered: Summer, Fall, Spring