2001 Law Student Tax Challenge
Background and Entrants
The American Bar Association Section of Taxation Young Lawyers Forum held the first annual Law Student Tax Challenge on January 18, 2002, during the Section's Midyear Meeting in New Orleans, LA. Law students from across the country competed for cash donations to their school and other prizes.
The Law Student Tax Challenge is an annual inter-law school transactional planning and client counseling competition designed to focus on the tax consequences of a complex business-planning problem. The competition is intended to provide law students with the opportunity to research "real-life" tax planning issues and to demonstrate their acquired tax knowledge, through their writing and oratory skills, in front of the nation's largest single group of practicing attorneys, judges, consultants, counsels, and educators specializing in federal tax law.This year,15 teams from 14 law schools entered written submissions. They were:
Wake Forest University School of Law - Thomas Ricks (Captain), Jill Peters
Coach: Professor David Shores
Indiana University - Thomas Lunsford (Captain), Darin Siders
Coaches: Dean Leonard Fromm, Peter Van Zante
Western State University College of Law - Brian Comstock (Captain), Michele J. Barranca-Donaldson
Coach: Professor Cheyanna L. Jaffke
American University Washington College of Law - Gilles Stucker Jr. (Captain), Ross Poulsen
Coach: Professor Kenneth Anderson
South Texas College of Law - Michelle Merendino (Captain), Rebecca Turini
Coach: Kevin Yamamoto
Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law - Kate Bixler (Captain), Kimberly Houston
Coach: Professor Joseph Sedlack
Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law - Marc Potlock (Captain), Geoff Bushko
Coach: Professor Joseph Sedlack
Syracuse University College of Law - James C. Shackelford (Captain), Lisa Christensen
Coach: Professor Stephen T. Black
University of Washington School of Law - Anthony D. Cipriano (Captain), Asher Bearman
Coach: Scott Schumacher
Quinnipiac University School of Law - Dawn M. Vigue (Captain), Bruce Fair
Coach: Professor Toni Robinson
Creighton University School of Law - Tina Gillispie (Captain), Hollie Mason
Coach: Professor Tom Purcell
Georgia State College of Law - Maxmillian S. Kim (Captain), Mona H. Baldwin
Coach: Professor George Carey
University of Maryland School of Law - Michael M. Lloyd (Captain), Amy Devadas
Coach: Professor Daniel S. Goldberg
Rutgers School of Law - Paula Zwiren (Captain), Judith D. Rawcliffe
Loyola University Chicago School of Law - Regina Rathnau (Captain), Susan Balkema
Coach: Jeffrey Kwall
Semifinalists and Winners
Four semi-finalist teams were selected to compete orally in New Orleans.
The semi-finalist teams were:
- Thomas Lunsford and Darin Siders from the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington,
- Kate Bixler and Kimberly Houston from the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law,
- Michael M. Lloyd and Amy Devadas from the University of Maryland School of Law, and
- Anthony D. Cipriano and Asher Bearman from the University of Washington School of Law
The teams from Temple University and the University of Maryland were chosen to proceed to the finals round, with Temple winning first place overall and the University of Maryland winning second place. The memorandums and letters prepared by the semi-finalists are available for public download and review in Adobe Acrobat format.
In recognition of the two finalist teams, the ABA Section of Taxation will donate $5,000 and $2,500, respectively, to the Temple and Maryland law schools. The student team members will receive Tax Section memberships and waiver of Section meeting registration fees for three and two years, respectively.
"The competition provided the students with practical tax law experience and an invaluable opportunity to meet and network with some of the nation's leading tax practitioners," stated Melinda Merk, Chair of the ABA Section of Taxation Young Lawyers Forum. "We were very impressed with the level of professionalism and knowledge that the students exhibited."
For more information on the Young Lawyers Forum, visit the Forum home page.
Judges
Judges for the competition included some of the nation's top tax professionals.
Judges for the semi-final round were:
- Christine L. Agnew (Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Houston, TX),
- Paul H. Asofsky (Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Houston, TX),
- Professor Charlotte Crane (Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, IL),
- Jere D. McGaffey (McGaffey, Foley & Lardner, Milwaukee, WI), and
- Rudolph R. Ramelli (Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, New Orleans, LA).
Judges for the final round were:
- Christine L. Agnew,
- Jerald D. August (August & Kulunas, P.A., West Palm Beach, FL),
- Michael J. Grace (Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP, Washington, DC),
- Philip B. Wright (Bryan Cave, St. Louis, MO), and
- Lisa M. Zarlenga (Steptoe & Johnson, Washington, DC).
2001 Results Index
