Course Schedule

This course focuses on the problem of making the best sense of statutes and regulations. Students will practice interpreting statutes both as judges and as advocates, learning skills that will help them in practice. In addition to pragmatic questions, the course will address prominent theories of statutory interpretation and debates about which approaches to interpretation are or are not appropriate. Students will occasionally be asked to interpret statutes and defend those interpretations as part of in-class group exercises.  

This course focuses on the problem of making the best sense of statutes and regulations. Students will practice interpreting statutes both as judges and as advocates, learning skills that will help them in practice. In addition to pragmatic questions, the course will address prominent theories of statutory interpretation and debates about which approaches to interpretation are or are not appropriate. Students will occasionally be asked to interpret statutes and defend those interpretations as part of in-class group exercises.  

This course focuses on the problem of making the best sense of statutes and regulations. Students will practice interpreting statutes both as judges and as advocates, learning skills that will help them in practice. Among other topics, the course will address the creation of legislation and several prominent theories of statutory interpretation. In addition to theory, students will consider pragmatic questions, exploring the extent to which questions of doctrinal statutory interpretation can or should be separated from considerations about the relationship between the legislative and judicial branches. 

This class will examine how the ancient ethical ideas of the Stoics, and the Socratic tradition more broadly, can shed light on the problems of law students, lawyers, and clients.  The readings will focus on Plato, Epictetus, Seneca, and other classical philosophers, along with some of their modern descendants. Short response papers will be required.  We will meet for two hours each week.  Assessment will be pass/fail. 

The Constitution Goes to School.  This seminar will examine how the Supreme Court’s constitutional opinions have both shaped and misshaped the nation’s public schools. In 1969, the Supreme Court famously declared that “[i]t can hardly be argued that … students … shed their constitutional rights … at the schoolhouse gate.” Not surprisingly, though, Supreme Court Justices both before and since have bitterly contested the precise scope of students’ constitutional rights in the elementary and secondary school contexts. Some Justices, moreover, have concluded that it is typically unwise for the judiciary to enter the educational realm, lest the Supreme Court turn into a school board for the entire nation. Even if such fears are overblown, there can be no doubt that the Court’s constitutional interpretations have had significant consequences for schools charged with transforming students into citizens. Constitutional topics will include: freedom of speech, establishment of religion, free exercise of religion, searches and seizures, cruel and unusual punishment, due process, and equal protection. Educational topics will include: homeschooling, zero tolerance policies, corporal punishment, school funding, school uniforms, racial desegregation, strip searches, single-sex schools, off-campus speech, drug testing, unauthorized immigration, the school-to-prison pipeline, and book banning.

In Taking Depositions and Handling Expert Witnesses, students will learn how to prepare for, take and defend depositions of lay and expert witnesses. This is a skills-based course where students will actually take depositions and work with experts. This is a short course and will move quickly and have strict attendance policies.

Three key components of the class are:

• Prepare and evaluate expert reports;
• Preparing and presenting expert witnesses in hearings, depositions, and trial
• Taking depositions of “real” expert witnesses (psychiatric residents at Dell Medical School; non-law students)

Suggested prerequisites or concurrent: Evidence, Advocacy Survey, ADR courses.

In Taking Depositions and Handling Expert Witnesses, students will learn how to prepare for, take and defend depositions of lay and expert witnesses. This is a skills-based course where students will actually take depositions and work with experts. This is a short course and will move quickly and have strict attendance policies.

Three key components of the class are:

• Prepare and evaluate expert reports;
• Preparing and presenting expert witnesses in hearings, depositions, and trial
• Taking depositions of “real” expert witnesses (psychiatric residents at Dell Medical School; non-law students)

Suggested prerequisites or concurrent: Evidence, Advocacy Survey, ADR courses.

Students will learn how to prepare for, take and defend depositions of lay and expert witnesses. Students will learn how to prepare expert reports, prepare and present expert witnesses in hearings, depositions and trials. This is a skills based course where students will actually take depositions and conduct hearings with their experts. This is a short course and will move quickly and have strict attendance policies. Suggested prerequisites or concurrent: Evidence, Advocacy Survey, ADR courses.

Students will learn how to prepare for, take and defend depositions of lay and expert witnesses. Students will learn how to prepare expert reports, prepare and present expert witnesses in hearings, depositions and trials. This is a skills based course where students will actually take depositions and conduct hearings with their experts. This is a short course and will move quickly and have strict attendance policies. Suggested prerequisites or concurrent: Evidence, Advocacy Survey, ADR courses.

Students will learn how to prepare for, take and defend depositions of lay and expert witnesses. Students will learn how to prepare expert reports, prepare and present expert witnesses in hearings, depositions and trials. This is a skills based course where students will actually take depositions and conduct hearings with their experts. This is a short course and will move quickly and have strict attendance policies. Suggested prerequisites or concurrent: Evidence, Advocacy Survey, ADR courses.

This short doctrinal course will provide a survey of the law of tariffs. It will be organized chronologically, starting with the founding era and progressing through the Civil War, the 1890s, the 1940s, the 1970s, the early 2000s, and the 2020s. It will emphasize the division of tariff law-making authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

The course is offered through the full-time MBA program as an upper-level accounting elective. The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of taxation and financial planning. Traditional business courses analyze an array of factors affecting business decisions but provide little systematic consideration of individual financial planning decisions. This case-based course intends to bridge this gap by discussing how accounting, economic, finance, and legal principles affect a variety of personal financial planning decisions.

This course is restricted to upper class students who have completed a course in taxation of corporations or who otherwise obtain the permission of the instructor. The class covers various tax issues affecting both taxable and tax-free mergers and acquisitions, including the principal §368 transactions, §351-type acquisitions, net operating loss carryovers, compensation issues, and international acquisitions. The course material consists of readings in Bittker & Eustice, Federal Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders (available online), plus cases, regulations and rulings, photocopied and available in the course packet available at the McCombs Copy Center. There are no examinations; instead you are asked to prepare at least three written assignments in the form which you, as professionals, would prepare for clients or employers. Grades are based on written assignments (70%) and participation in our discussions during class (30%).

This course is restricted to upper class students who have completed a course in taxation of corporations or who otherwise obtain the permission of the instructor. The class covers various tax issues affecting both taxable and tax-free mergers and acquisitions, including the principal §368 transactions, §351-type acquisitions, net operating loss carryovers, compensation issues, and international acquisitions. The course material consists of readings in Bittker & Eustice, Federal Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders (available online), plus cases, regulations and rulings, photocopied and available in the course packet available at the McCombs Copy Center. There are no examinations; instead you are asked to prepare at least three written assignments in the form which you, as professionals, would prepare for clients or employers. Grades are based on written assignments (70%) and participation in our discussions during class (30%).

Taxation of Real Estate Investments covers the federal tax effects on those persons who invest in real estate.  It includes an overview of how real estate is treated for tax purposes differently from other types of businesses.  Then we cover the principal investment vehicles (including syndicated partnerships and LLCs) used by investors to acquire, hold and dispose of real estate. Next we cover some of the more complex types of real estate transactions, including like-kind exchanges, real estate investment trusts (REITs), real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs), and syndicated tenancies-in-common (TICs). Finally, we discuss real estate investments by non-US persons.

Although study of some of the investment structures are daunting, there is no prerequisite of any tax course to register for this class.

Taxation of Real Estate Investments covers the federal tax effects on those persons who invest in real estate.  It includes an overview of how real estate is treated for tax purposes differently from other types of businesses.  Then we cover the principal investment vehicles (including syndicated partnerships and LLCs used by investors to acquire, hold and dispose of real estate. Next we cover some of the more complex types of real estate transactions, including like-kind exchanges, real estate investment trusts (REITs), real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs), and syndicated tenancies-in-common (TICs). Finally, we discuss real estate investments by non-US persons.

Although study of some of the investment structures are daunting, there is no prerequisite of any tax course to register for this class.