TaxProf Blog

• TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

  Saturday: Tax Notes to WaPo: "We Are Not an 'Obscure' Journal" Madoff: Estate Tax Reform to Protect Family Farms and Business ($10m Exemption), Not Wealthy Heirs ($1-2m Exemption) IRS Issues Rules Implementing 5-Year NOL Carryback Federal Judicial Clerkship Applications Up 66% Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance Through Mass-Media... [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 12:39am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Can Government Extend Statute of Limitation in Tax Shelter Cases Because of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars?

  Jack Townsend asks: Is the Criminal Statute of Limitations Suspended Under the Wartime Suspension Act?: There are rumors that the government in a tax shelter case is seeking to suspend the criminal statute of limitations under the "wartime suspension act", 18 U.S.C. § 3287. ... The concern, of course, is... [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads

  This week's list of the Top 5 Recent Tax Paper Downloads is the same as last week's list. The #1 paper is now the #30 tax paper in all-time downloads out of 6167 tax papers: 1. [1209 Downloads] To Roth or Not to Roth: Analyzing the Conversion Opportunity for 2010... [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:12am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Tax Court to Accept e-Filing in All Cases, Starting Jan. 1

  The Tax Court announced on Friday that it has adopted new Rule 26 to permit electronic filing in all cases, beginning January 1, 2010. [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:05am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Court Refuses 2L's Request to Change "C" Grade or to Order NYLS to Adopt Pass/Fail Grading System

  The New York Supreme Court has refused a New York Law School 2L's request to change his "C" grade in Legal Writing II and to order the school to change its letter grading system to a pass-fail grading system like Yale's. Keefe v. New York Law School, No. 109484/09 (N.Y.... [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:19am EST
  by Paul Caron

• House to Extend 40 Expiring Tax Provisions Through 2010

  The House Ways & Means Committee on Friday released a 7-page summary of the Tax Extenders Act of 2009: The Tax Extenders Act of 2009 would provide individuals and businesses with approximately $30 billion in tax relief in 2009 by extending for one year (through 2010) more than forty provisions... [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• More on Brainard Nomination

  Following up on last week's post on the Senate Finance Committee's considerations of the nomination of Lael Brainard to be Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs: Wall Street Journal, Another Nominee’s Tax Troubles Irk Sen. Grassley: Sen. Charles Grassley expressed exasperation over another Obama nominee’s tax problems. “We do... [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 6:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Tax Notes to WaPo: "We Are Not an 'Obscure' Journal"

  Following up last week's post, which quoted the observation in a Washington Post article on Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward Paul Jones that "[h]e labored for years as a proofreader or columnist for an obscure journal called Tax Notes": Christopher Bergin, President and Publisher of Tax Analysts, responds today in... [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 2:36pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Madoff: Estate Tax Reform to Protect Family Farms and Business ($10m Exemption), Not Wealthy Heirs ($1-2m Exemption)

  New York Times op-ed, Protect the Farm, Tax the Manor, by Ray D. Madoff (Boston College): How do you tell a wealthy heiress from a family farmer? It sounds like the setup for a joke. But in fact it is the fundamental problem underlying sensible reform of the federal estate... [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 2:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• IRS Issues Rules Implementing 5-Year NOL Carryback

  The IRS yesterday issued rules implementing the new 5-year NOL carryback provision: IR-2009-105 Rev. Proc. 2009-52, 2009-49 I.R.B. ___ (Dec. 7, 2009) [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Federal Judicial Clerkship Applications Up 66%

  The Blog of the Legal Times, Online Federal Clerkship Applications at All-Time High: The federal judiciary saw a huge spike in online applications for clerkships from last year, according to a release from the judiciary. The Web site used by about two-thirds of all federal judges to find clerks saw... [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 10:08am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance Through Mass-Media Publication of High-Profile Tax Issues

  Elizabeth Branham (J.D. 2009, UC-Hastings) has published Note, Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance Through Mass-Media Publication of High-Profile Tax Issues, 60 Hastings L.J. 1507 (2009). Here is the Conclusion: The issue of voluntary compliance is essential to any discussion of methods of closing the tax gap. Because of... [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 4:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Erasmus Posts Tax Papers on SSRN

  Daniel N. Erasmus II (Thomas Jefferson) has posted several tax papers on SSRN: How Robust is Your Structured Finance Transaction? Let’s Hope the New OECD Guidelines on Money Laundering Will Not Create More Unnecessary Tax Auditing Proactive Tax Risk Management Submission on IASB Income Tax Statement Draft EB/2009/02 Summary of... [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 3:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Stanford Hosts Northern California Tax Roundtable Today

  Stanford hosts the Fall 2009 Northern California Tax Roundtable today with these papers and commentary: David M. Hasen (Penn State), Financial Options in the Real World: An Economic and Tax Analysis Commentator: David S. Gamage (UC-Berkeley) David S. Gamage (UC-Davis) & Darien Shanske (UC-Hastings), Shedding Some Light on Hidden Taxes:... [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:30pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Lawsky Presents Declining Marginal Utility and Tax Policy Today at Virginia

  Sarah B. Lawsky (George Washington; visiting at Virginia) presents On the Edge: Declining Marginal Utility and Tax Policy at Virginia today as part of its Faculty Workshop Series. Here is the abstract: Tax policy and scholarship generally assume that income has declining marginal utility (that is, that the next dollar... [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:15pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Conference on Empirical Legal Studies at USC

  The two-day Fourth Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies kicks off today at USC. The tax panel is chaired by Scott Altman (USC): Dhammika Dharmapala (University of Illinois College of Law), C. Fritz Foley (Harvard Business School) & Kristin J. Forbes (MIT, Sloan School of Management), Watch What I Do,... [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 2:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• The 70% Discount on Goldman's $500m Gift

  Smart Money, The 70% Discount on Goldman's $500M Gift, by Diana Ransom: It’s been dubbed the apology with a half-billion-dollar gift attached. In an attention-grabbing move this week, Goldman Sachs said it would launch a $500 million initiative to help small businesses with Warren Buffett as a key adviser, an announcement... [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 1:24pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Tough Week for 'Girls Gone Wild' Founder Joe Francis: $34m Tax Lien, Mocked by Stanford Band

  Following up on my prior post: the IRS has filed a $34 million tax lien against Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis', two weeks after U.S. District Judge S. James Otero sentenced Francis to 301 days time served following his guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax...' [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 1:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Gender Diversity in Law Stories Series

  Following up on Wednesday's post, Foundation Press Publishes 30th Law Stories Book, in which I expressed my pride in serving as series editor and helping to recruit 50 incredibly talented faculty to edit books in the series: Tax Prof Bridget J. Crawford (Pace) highlights another point of pride in this...' [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 6:05am EST
  by Paul Caron

• 11th Circuit Hears Oral Argument Today in Wesley Snipes' Tax Appeal

  The 11th Circuit hears oral argument at 9:00 a,m, in actor Wesley Snipes' appeal of his conviction on three misdemeanor tax fraud counts. The panel is Judge Stanley Marcus (a "movie buff') and Senior Circuit Judges R. Lanier Anderson (a former tax lawyer) and Peter Fay. Update: The AAssociated Press..." [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 6:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Senate Finance Committee Meets Today on Brainard and Mundaca Nominations

  Following up on Wednesday's post, Senate to Move Forward on Lael Brainard's Nomination Despite Tax Problems: the Senate Finance Committee meets today to vote on her nomination to be Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. Following up on Tuesday's post, Mundaca Responds to Senate Finance Committee Questions: the Senate... [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:12am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Fishman: Stealth Preemption -- The IRS's Nonprofit Corporate Governance Initiative

  James J. Fishman (Pace) has posted Stealth Preemption: The IRS's Nonprofit Corporate Governance Initiative, 29 Va. Tax Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The IRS, the primary federal regulator of charities, has initiated a corporate governance initiative. The intervention by the IRS into an area traditionally the... [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• TIGTA: 372,000 Taxpayers Erroneously Claimed Education Tax Credits

  The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration yesterday reported that 372,000 taxpayers erroneously claimed education tax credits in 2006 and 2007, totaling $532 million (an average of over $1,400 improper credit per taxpayer). Improvements Are Needed in the Administration of Education Credits and Reporting Requirements for Educational Institutions (2009-30-141). [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• More 'Fiscal Blood on the Tax Tracks'

  Following up on my previous post, NY Times: LILOs & SILOSs Cause "Fiscal Blood on the Tracks": Business Week, Wall Street Plays Hardball: Across the nation, local governments and related public entities, already reeling from the recession, face another fiscal crisis: billions of dollars in fees owed to UBS, Goldman... [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:40am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Galle Receives Honorable Mention in AALS Scholarly Paper Competition

  Brian D. Galle (Florida State) received honorable mention in the 2010 AALS Scholarly Paper Competition for his paper, Foundation or Empire? The Role of Charity in a Federal System, 88 Tex. L. Rev. ___ (2010). Brian will present the paper at the AALS Annual Meeting on Friday, January 8, at... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 4:02pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Desai Presents Investor Taxation in Open Economies Today at Columbia

  Mihir A. Desai (Harvard Business School) presents Investor Taxation in Open Economies (with Dhammika Dharmapala (Illinois)) at Columbia today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series. Here is the abstract: Despite the rise of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) as a dominant international capital flow, existing international tax policy norms... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:30pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• 17 Tax Increases in Senate Health Care Bill = $370.2 Billion

  The Joint Committee on Taxation has published a list of the 17 tax increases in the Senate health care bill, which are estimated to raise $370.2 billion in revenues over ten years: 40% excise tax on health coverage in excess of $8,500/$23,000 ($149.1 billion) Employer W-2 reporting of value of... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 2:49pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Madoff Presents Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead Today at BC

  Ray D. Madoff (Boston College) presents her forthcoming book, Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead (Yale University Press, 2010), at Boston College today as part of its Legal History Roundtable. Here is the publisher's description: This book takes a riveting look at how the law...' [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:53pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• More 'Super Lawyer' Per Capita Law School Rankings

  Following up on my prior post, Law School Rankings by 'Super Lawyers', which blogged the Top 50 law schools by the number of "Super Lawyers" that are graduates of each school, as well as Super Lawyer ranking of the 50 largest law schools and the 50 smallest law schools. Here... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:44pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Philadelphia Tax Conference

  The two-day 20th Annual Philadelphia Tax Conference kicks off today. For a list of speakers and their topics, see here. [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:17pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Caron: Section 2036 Ruling May Force Bengals Out of Cincinnati

  With the Cincinnati Bengals now alone in first place in the AFC North Division, I thought it would be an opportune time to follow up last week's post (Tax Court Fumbles Substance-Over-Form Ball in Estate of Brown) and upload my article, Section 2036 Ruling May Force Bengals Out of Cincinnati,... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 6:15am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Order IRS to Apologize to Taxpayer

  The Tax Court yesterday ruled that it lacks jurisdiction to order the IRS to apologize to a taxpayer. Caldwell v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-169 (Nov. 18, 2009): The part of Caldwell's motion which we characterize as a "Request for Apology" asks that we require the IRS to enter into... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 6:03am EST
  by Paul Caron

• A Distributional Analysis of the 50 State Tax Systems

  The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy yesterday released Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States: Ten states—Washington, Florida, Tennessee, South Dakota, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Alabama—are particularly regressive. These “Terrible Ten” states ask poor families—those in the bottom 20% of the... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 6:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Galle: Hidden Taxes

  Brian D. Galle (Florida State) has published Hidden Taxes, 87 Wash. U. L. Rev. 59 (2009). Here is the abstract: The idea of hidden taxes is as old as John Stuart Mill, but convincing evidence of their existence is new. In this Article, I survey and critique recent studies that... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:15am EST
  by Paul Caron

• How the Tax Code Encourages Debt

  The New Yorker (Nov. 23, 2009), The Debt Economy -- How the Tax Code Encourages Debt, by James Surowiecki: John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that all financial crises are the result of “debt that, in one fashion or another, has become dangerously out of scale.” The recent financial crisis was no... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:19am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Senate to Move Forward on Lael Brainard's Nomination Despite Tax Problems

  I previously blogged the tax problems of Lael Brainard, President Obama's nominee to be Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. The tax problems are (1) twelve late payments of real estate and personal property taxes, and late payment of unemployment taxes; (2) failure to timely file employment eligibility verification... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:47pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• America's First $60k/Year Law School?

  Last month, I asked Is UC-Hastings America's Most Expensive Law School? Its $50,310 nonresident tuition for 2010-11 was higher than that at the top law schools (which ranged from $43,900 to $50,140). Proposed tuition increases at California's four public law schools would blow the top off and create America's first... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:41pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• House & Senate Seek to Avoid 2010 Estate Tax Repeal

  Democratic leaders on the House Ways & Means Committee today announced that they would seek to pass by December 31 a one-year extension of the current estate tax ($3.5 million exemption and 45% top rate) for 2010, to avoid the scheduled repeal of estate tax in 2010. Yesterday, Senators Thomas... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:55pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Allison Christians Named Teacher of the Year at Wisconsin

  Tax Prof Allison Christians has been named Teacher of the Year at Wisconsin. From the press release: Allison Christians was chosen Teacher of the Year from among all eligible tenure-track professors at the Law School by a poll of the three most recent classes (excluding the graduating class). Christians joined... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:05pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• What Constitutes 'Unforeseen Circumstances' Under § 121?

  David W. Randolph (Xavier University, Williams College of Business), "Unforeseen Circumstances" Exclusion From Gain on Sale of Home: Regulations and Private Letter Rulings Offer Examples of Situations the IRS Has Approved as Qualifying for Partial Exclusion of Gain (Journal of Accountancy): Single taxpayers or those married filing separately generally can... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Gamage: Preventing State Budget Crises: Redefining 'Tax Cuts' and 'Tax Hikes'

  David Gamage (UC-Berkeley) has posted Preventing State Budget Crises: Redefining 'Tax Cuts' and 'Tax Hikes', 98 Cal. L. Rev. ___ (2010), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Forty-nine of the U.S. states have balanced budget requirements, and every state acts as though bound by such constraints. These constraints create fiscal... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 1:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Foundation Press Publishes 30th Law Stories Book

  Foundation Press's Law Stories Series has passed an impressive milestone: there are now thirty books in the series: Administrative Law Stories (2006), edited by Peter L. Strauss (Columbia) Antitrust Stories (2007), edited by Eleanor M. Fox (NYU) & Daniel A. Crane (Cardozo) Bankruptcy Law Stories (2007), edited by Robert Rasmussen... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:48am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Johnson: It's Time to End the Tax Subsidy for Timber

  Calvin H. Johnson (Texas) has posted Timber!, 125 Tax Notes 801 (Nov. 16, 2009), on his website. Here is the abstract: With budget deficits of $1.4 trillion, or 9.9% of GDP, we are facing a revenue crisis of epic proportions. Our tax accounting for timber produces an antitax subsidy when... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:07am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Lavoie: Instilling a Taxpaying Ethos

  Richard Lavoie (Akron) has posted Flying Above the Law and Under the Radar: Instilling a Taxpaying Ethos in Those Playing by Their Own Rules, 29 Pace L. Rev. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: These days it really does seem like "only the little people pay taxes." Whether... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• 100% More Americans Admit Offshore Tax Cheating Than IRS Expected

  From the Department of Justice: The Justice Department and IRS announced that over 14,700 taxpayers have come forward to report previously-undisclosed foreign bank accounts under the voluntary disclosure program the IRS implemented following the settlement. This figure represents almost double the initial numbers the IRS announced in October and dwarfs... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:20am EST
  by Paul Caron

• ABA Tax Section Publishes Fall 2009 Issue of News Quarterly

  The ABA Tax Section has published 29 News Quarterly No. 1 (Fall 2009): Opinion Point: Management Based Definition for Domestic Corporations, by Jonathan Schwartz (Barrister, Temple Tax Chambers, London) (pp. 1, 16) Opinion Point: Saving Private Ryan's Tax Refund, by Francine J. Lipman (Chapman) (pp. 17-19) Opinion Point: What's Next... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:00am EST
  by Paul Caron

• Law School Rankings by 'Super Lawyers'

  Following up on my prior post, Which Law Schools Produce the Most "Super Lawyers"? : the magazine has aggregated its rankings of law schools producing the most "Super Lawyers" in each state into an overall law school ranking which measures the total number of "Super Lawyers" that are graduates of... [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:53pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Karen Brown Is Dean Finalist at Seattle

  Tax Prof Karen Brown (George Washington) is one of four dean finalists at Seattle: The Dean Search Committee at Seattle University School of Law is delighted to announce four finalists for the deanship. The committee was impressed by their outstanding records of academic achievement, administrative experience, and their enthusiastic embrace... [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:00pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Lyons Presents Congress, Treasury, and the Responses to the Home Mortgage Crisis Today at Miami

  William H. Lyons (Nebraska; visiting at Miami) presents Why Didn’t They Ask the Tax Experts? Congress, Treasury, and the Responses to the Home Mortgage Crisis at Miami today as part of itsFaculty Speaker Series: Lyons will discuss the various real estate recovery programs the Treasury Department has implemented under the... [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 2:54pm EST
  by Paul Caron

• Bill Belichick, Moneyball Savant?

  Bill Belichick, coach of my beloved New England Patriots, has been pilloried in the media for going for a first down Sunday night on 4th and 2 from his own 29-yard line with a little over 2 minutes remaining while leading the Indianapolis Coats 34-28. It turns out that Belichick... [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 1:55pm EST
  by Paul Caron