ABA Tax Section Hosts Free CLE Webinar Today On Race And The Internal Revenue Code

The ABA Tax Section hosts a free CLE webinar on Race and the Internal Revenue Code today at 1:00 pm to 2:35 pm ET:

As the nation focuses on the many racial inequities that permeate society, this free webinar will explore how the federal tax code, state and local taxes and international taxation impact racial inequality.

The panel will feature a demonstration of a recently released interactive feature that traces IRS Form 1040 line by line to examine the impact of the federal tax code on racial and economic inequality. The panel will further explore the impact of colorblind tax data on social policy. Panelists will also discuss the racial inequities perpetuated through taxable treatment of employment discrimination damages and how race intersects with international tax law and policy.

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AALS Hosts Virtual Panel Today On Inclusion And Addressing Racism In The Federal Income Tax Course

The AALS Tax Section hosts a Zoom panel today on Inclusion and Addressing Racism in the Federal Income Tax Course at 1:00 pm ET:

The AALS Tax Section will convene a panel discussion on classroom inclusion and how to identify and address policies with racist implications in the Federal Income Tax Law course. It may also discuss issues relating to who takes tax courses in law school. Many colleagues have been spurred by Jeremy Bearer-Friend’s post to the TaxProf email list about inclusive course design, and this panel seeks to connect course design choices to the specific context of tax classes.

The session will have two parts. The first (about forty minutes) will provide an overview that touches on casebook selection and syllabus goals. Each panelist will speak briefly about what they have done in their classrooms, with a focus on specific examples. The second part (about thirty minutes) will feature a moderator-panelist exchange during which the moderator will pose questions that have been submitted to panelists in advance of the panel.

Speakers:

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South Carolina Law Review Call For Papers: Taxation, Finance, And Racial Justice

The South Carolina Law Review will host its 2021 Virtual Symposium on February 19, 2021, at the University of South Carolina School of Law, hosted on Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. The symposium will specifically examine the intersection of tax law and policy and racial (in)justice at the local, state, and federal levels.

Tax law and policy plays an essential role in defining the ways in which individuals relate to and support one another. Revenue needs and spending policy are inextricably entwined and reflect and reinforce a society’s understanding of what each individual owes to and is owed by the society in which she lives. How tax defines income, whom it taxes, their relative contributions, and the activities that our tax system chooses to subsidize or not create countless points of overlap between tax and racial justice. The goal of this symposium is to critically examine the intersection of tax law and policy, finance, and racial justice through both a chronicling of the past and detailing pathways to reform. Topics may include (but are not limited to): the past and current impact of federal tax law and policy on historically-marginalized groups, the role of state tax systems in exacerbating and/or perpetuating racial injustice, and how tax law may be reimagined to advance racial justice at the state and federal levels.

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Video Presentations: 23rd Annual Critical Tax Theory Conference At Florida

You can view the Zoom video presentations at the 23rd Annual Critical Tax Theory Conference hosted by the University of Florida Levin College of Law on April 10-11, 2020:

• Neil H. Buchanan (Florida), Efficiency is an Incoherent Concept
• Jonathan Choi (Minnesota), An Empirical Study of Statutory Interpretation in Tax Law, 95 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 363 (2020) (paper)
• Charlotte Crane (Northwestern), Is There a Federal Common Law of Tax? The Supreme Court’s Decision in Rodriguez v. FDIC
• David Elkins (Netanya), The Right and the Good: The Rhetoric of International Taxation
• Leandra Lederman (Indiana), The Fraud Triangle and Tax Evasion (paper)

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AALS Call For Papers: New Voices In Taxation

Call For Papers: New Voices in Taxation Panel
AALS Section on Taxation/2021 Annual Meeting

The AALS Section on Taxation is pleased to announce the following Call for Papers. Selected papers will be presented at a works-in-progress session at the 2021 AALS Annual Meeting from January 5 through 9. While AALS has not made a decision about whether the conference will be held in person, selected presenters will have the opportunity to present remotely. This program will provide panelists the opportunity to present their work and receive feedback from senior colleagues in the field.

Eligibility: Scholars teaching at AALS member schools or non-member fee-paid schools with seven or fewer years of full-time teaching experience as of the submission deadline are eligible to submit papers. (Non-tenure track teaching fellowships count for this deadline.). For co-authored papers, all authors must satisfy the eligibility criteria. While we welcome submissions from previous panelists, we will give a preference to scholars whose work has not been selected for a previous new voices panel.

Due date: 5 p.m. PDT, Thursday, August 20, 2020.

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Avi-Yonah Delivers Keynote Address On Taxation After The Pandemic Today At Copenhagen Virtual Workshop On Corporate Tax Practice And Inequality

Copenhagen Business School, Three Day Virtual Workshop on Corporate Tax Practice and Inequality:

Scholars from the variety of fields that tackle either corporate sustainability or corporate tax practices do not ‘naturally’ meet for conversations, yet there are links between the various fields that could benefit from further dedicated exploration. Meanwhile, given the intensive media coverage of corporate tax practices and wider societal interest in the topic, much interesting research is underway to explore the linkages and other aspects of corporate tax practice that is relevant for the business in society agenda.

With this background in mind, this workshop will gather together speakers (and workshop participants) who are already involved in, planning or have a keen interest in research on the linkages between corporate tax and sustainability issues. The workshop will include presentation of innovative proposals as well as space for more general conversations about potential future research streams, key concepts that could inform work at this intersection, and theoretical themes or methodological approaches that are relevant to this work. It is our hope that the engagement between researchers from a variety of disciplines and with a variety of perspectives will generate new insights and add value to ongoing research that will enter the literature in the years to come.

The public key note speech by Professor Reuven Avi-Yonah from University of Michigan will be on Taxation after the Pandemic and followed by a Q&A:

If there is one thing that is relatively clear about the Covid-19 pandemic, it is that governments will need new sources of revenue to offset its costs and build a better social safety net. All over the world, governments are borrowing and spending at a pace not seen since World War II, and at the same time revenues from both income and consumption taxes are falling because of pandemic related slowdowns in economic activity. The result is unprecedented levels of debt that even with low interest rates mean inevitable needs for more revenue down the road. Even a country that borrows in its own currency like the US or Japan cannot debt well in excess of GDP forever without risking either inflation (if it creates money to pay off the debt) or a sharp increase in borrowing costs that crowds out other government expenditures at a time when they are most needed to bolster the social safety net, which the pandemic revealed to be quite fragile in many countries including the US.

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Today's Tuesday Afternoon AALS Faculty Focus Webinar: Excellence In Online Instruction

AALS Faculty Focus:

COVID-19 has affected the normal rhythms of the legal academy in ways that may be particularly disruptive for early-career faculty.

AALS invites tenure-track, clinical, and legal writing faculty to join us on Tuesday afternoons for “Faculty Focus,” a series of weekly webinars organized around issues these individuals may be facing as well as challenges affecting higher education and the profession in general.

Each 60-minute webinar will feature expert advice from law school leaders followed by shared experiences from early career law faculty. The sessions will be structured to encourage conversation and connection, with opportunities for participants to crowdsource solutions and discuss common issues across schools and teaching areas.

Up Next: How to spend your summer
The first series of topics will be organized around how newer faculty members might best allocate their time during the summer of 2020. The moment of pause and recalibration faculty usually experience after grades have been submitted—when the spring semester has been closed but planning for the fall has not yet begun—has become cluttered and confusing due to the exponential increase in demands on time and attention. Join our speakers to explore issues concerning work-life balance and the demands of scholarship, meeting the needs of all students online, and delivering high-quality online instruction using best practices from higher education.

Week 3 (today at 4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT):  Excellence in Online Instruction (register here):

Speakers:

• Yvonne Dutton (Indiana-McKinney)
• Nina Kohn (Syracuse)
• John Manning (Dean, Harvard)
• Alison Mikkor (UC-Irvine)
• Eloise Pasachoff (Georgetown)
• Michael Pollack (Cardozo)

Hosts:

• Darby Dickerson (AALS President & Dean, UIC John Marshall)
• Vince Rougeau (AALS President-elect & Dean, Boston College)

Moderator:

• Jeff Allum (AALS Director of Research)

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National Town Hall Today On Race, Law, And The Gospel

The Christian Legal Society is hosting a National Town Hall on Race, Law, and the Gospel today on Zoom at 1:00 ET (registration):

Our nation is in social turmoil, the likes of which we haven't seen in half a century. While trying to ride out a global pandemic, we are also witnessing crowds all over the country reacting in anger to egregious cases of police misconduct. 

In response to killing of George Floyd, CLS issued the following statement:

We are sorrowful over the killing of George Floyd. Christian Legal Society believes in the sacred value of his life and all human life. We pray for justice, and we confess that something needs to change. We are committed to be part of that change, as much as we can, through our members and our ministries. We call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, help, and healing for Minneapolis and the United States of America.

In light of that statement, and the command of Micah 6:8 to Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with Our God, which instructs the CLS motto, Seeking Justice with the Love of God, we are holding a national townhall meeting.

We invite you to join CLS for a live national discussion on "Race, Law, and the Gospel." Four attorneys from different backgrounds will share their thoughts on critical issues involving race relations, legal injustice, and the criminal justice system, as well as their biblical perspectives on these issues.

Speakers:

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Temple Symposium: Disrupting Hierarchies In Legal Education

Temple Symposium, Disrupting Hierarchies In Legal Education:

• Paul J. Zwier (Emory), Legal Education in Search of a New Meritocracy and Values for Admissions, Grading, and Pedagogy: A Personal Reflection on the Importance of the Temple Graduate Fellow Program, 91 Temple L. Rev. Blog (Mar. 13, 2020)
• Kerri Lynn Stone (Florida International), Unsinkable? The College Admissions Scam was the Tip of the Iceberg, 91 Temple L. Rev. Blog (Mar. 20, 2020)
• John Hasnas (Georgetown), Hierarchy? What Hierarchy? Why Legal Education Is the Most Egalitarian Form of Higher Education, 91 Temple L. Rev. Blog (Mar. 26, 2020)
• Elaine D. Ingulli (Stockton), Musings on Disrupting Hierarchies in Legal Education, 91 Temple L. Rev. Blog (Apr. 2, 2020)

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Roin: Changing Places, Changing Taxes — Exploiting Tax Discontinuities

Julie Roin (Chicago), Changing Places, Changing Taxes: Exploiting Tax Discontinuities, Symposium on Legal Discontinuities (Cegla Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Tel Aviv University), 22 Theoretical Inquiries in Law ___ (2020):

President Trump’s decision to move his official state of residence from high-tax New York to no (income)–tax Florida has brought public attention to an issue that has long troubled scholars, as well as designers and administrators of income tax systems: how the interaction of tax rules deferring the taxation of income and tax rules based on residency allows taxpayers to reduce and even avoid taxation of their deferred income. These discontinuities in tax treatment may lead to excessive migration, as well as reductions in state income tax revenues.

Although trans-national moves of this sort are increasingly treated as “realization events” for tax purposes, triggering the immediate taxation of accrued but untaxed gains in the taxpayer’s country of original residence, the states of the United States have not tried to impose similar rules on residents moving to other states. This reluctance may stem in part from concerns that any attempt to do so would be struck down as a violation of the federal constitution’s Commerce Clause or its Right to Travel. But it may also stem from the fact that such a forced realization rule creates a different discontinuity; a tax rule accelerating the taxation of accrued gain penalize interstate movers (relative to those who stay put and continue to benefit from tax deferrals), disincentivizing such moves. Instead of too much interstate migration, there may be too little, interfering with both economic efficiency and what could be a valuable feedback mechanism about the performance of state governments. The same discontinuity problem arises in the international realm, of course, but there the difference in institutional structures and political sensibilities—not to mention larger revenue concerns due to higher tax rates—has led to a different policy outcome.

My paper analyses legal mechanisms or rules that might reduce both positive incentives and negative disincentives for interstate moves.

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Washington University Symposium: Current Issues In State Tax

Symposium, Current Issues in State Tax, 58 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 1-296 (2019):

• Richard Pomp (Connecticut), Wayfair: Its Implications and Missed Opportunities, 58 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 1 (2019)
• David Gamage (Indiana), Darien Shanske (UC-Davis) & Adam Thimmesch (Nebraska), Taxing E-commerce in the Post-Wayfair World, 58 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 71 (2019)
• Charles Merriweather & John Whiteman (Missouri Dep't of Revenue), Missouri's Taxation of Remote Sellers in a Post-Wayfair World, 58 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 95 (2019)
• Kirk Stark (UCLA), Regional Taxation in State Tax Reform, 58 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 117 (2019)
• Michael McLaughlin (Washington Univ.), Alcohol Taxation and Child Maltreatment, 58 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 151 (2019)
• Daniel Hemel (Chicago), The State-Charity Disparity and the 2017 Tax Law, 58 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 189 (2019)

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Temple Symposium: Taxpayer Rights — All The Angles

Symposium, Taxpayer Rights: All the Angles, 91 Temp. L. Rev. 679-830 (2019):

• Alice G. Abreu (Temple), Foreword: Taxpayer Rights: All the Angles, 91 Temp. L. Rev. 679 (2019)
• T. Keith Fogg (Harvard), Can the Taxpayer Bill of Rights Assist Your Clients?, 91 Temp. L. Rev. 705 (2019)
• Richard K. Greenstein (Temple), Rights, Remedies, and Justice: The Paradox of Taxpayer Rights, 91 Temp. L. Rev. 743 (2019)
• Leslie Book (Villanova), Giving Taxpayer Rights a Seat at the Table, 91 Temp. L. Rev. 759 (2019)
• Jennifer J. Lee (Temple), Operationalizing Language Access Rights For Limited English Proficient Taxpayers, 91 Temp. L. Rev. 791 (2019)

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Ohio State Symposium: Artificial Intelligence And The Future Of Tax Law And Policy

Symposium, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Tax Law and Policy, 16 Ohio St. Tech. L.J. 67-302 (2020) (program):

Introduction

• Stephanie Hoffer (Ohio State), What If Tax Law's Future Is Now?, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 67 (2020)

Writing Laws That Robots Can Read

• Joshua Blank (UC-Irvine) & Leigh Osofsky (North Carolina), Legal Calculators and the Tax System, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 73 (2020)
• Allison Christians (McGill), Taxation in the Age of Smart Contracts: the CryptoKitty Conundrum, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 91 (2020)
• Sarah Lawsky (Northwestern), Form as Formalization, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 114 (2020)

Taxing Robots

• Stephanie Hoffer (Ohio State), Tax Theory & Feral AI, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 157 (2020)
• Robert Kovacev (Norton Rose Fulbright, Washington, D.C.), A Taxing Dilemma: Robot Taxes and the Challenges of Effective Taxation of AI, Automation, and Robotics in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 182 (2020)

AI, the Labor Market, and Tax

• Daniel Hemel (Chicago), Does the Tax Code Favor Robots?, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 221 (2020)
• Anton Korinek (Virginia), Taxation and the Vanishing Labor Market in the Age of AI, 16 Ohio St. Tech L.J. 244 (2020)

AI in Tax Compliance and Enforcement

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Call For 15 Pre-Recorded Presentations For CALIcon2020: Pandemic + Legal Education + Tech

CALIcon2020 is putting out a brand new, clean slate Call For Speakers. We want you to do a 15 minute pre-recorded session on some topic related to Pandemic + Legal Education + Tech. This can be a screencast, interpretive dance, podcast, Zoom panel discussion – whatever you want, but you have to record it and upload it to us by Midnight on Friday, May 15, 2020.

We will choose 18 of these and assemble them into clusters of three presentations.

Conference Description:
We are in the midst of the largest distance learning experiment in legal education history. Everyone – faculty, students, Teknoids, law librarians, edtech folks — everyone — has experienced it differently and had to make adjustments or witnessed a rapid change. We want you to talk about that. How’d it go? Does this mean real, permanent change for legal education? What did you learn? If you could go back in time to December 2019, what advice would you give yourself? You get the idea.

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Symposium: Green Tax Solutions

The Pittsburgh Tax Review has published Symposium, Green Tax Solutions, 17 Pitt. Tax Rev. 1-200 (2019):

• Roberta Mann (Oregon), Tax Policies for Clean Manufacturing: Implementing the Green
  New Deal, 17 Pitt. Tax Rev. 1 (2019)
• Tracey M. Roberts (Cumberland), Greenbacks for the Green New Deal, 17 Pitt. Tax Rev. 53 (2019)
• Janet E. Milne (Vermont), How Durable Is a Lockbox for Carbon Tax Revenue?, 17 Pitt. Tax Rev. 105 (2019)

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Tax Papers At 6th Annual Michigan Junior Scholars Conference

6th Annual Michigan Junior Scholars Conference:

Rory Gillis (Toronto), Dividing the Public Fisc: Rethinking the Division of Tax Room in Fiscal Federalism

Michelle Layser (Illinois), How Place-Based Tax Incentives Can Reduce Geographic Inequality, 74 Tax L. Rev. ___ (2020):

Place-based tax incentives are frequently used by governments to encourage investment in low-income areas. But no standard exists to describe the ideal place-based tax incentive, making evaluation of these programs nearly impossible. This Article provides the necessary baseline by explaining when, where, and how to design place-based tax incentives that can benefit low-income communities by reducing geographic inequality. Using Geospatial Information System (GIS) mapping methods, this Article demonstrates how lawmakers can use public data to map spatial disadvantage. It then draws on tax theory to show how to design place-based tax incentives to reduce geographic inequality in targeted areas. The result is not a one-size-fits-all prescription, but a place-specific approach that can help place-based tax incentives become an effective vehicle for reducing underlying, geographic causes of neighborhood disadvantage. Comparing current place-based tax incentives to this baseline reveals that a significant weakness of current approaches is their failure to target places with geographic inequality or promote activities that could reduce it.

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23rd Annual Critical Tax Theory Conference At Florida

Florida hosts the 23rd annual (and first virtual)  Critical Tax Theory Conference today and tomorrow:

The Critical Tax Theory Conference has a long history of fostering the work of both established and emerging scholars whose research challenges and enriches the tax law and policy literature. Critical tax scholars question assumptions of objectivity in tax, as their work explores how tax law and policy impact historically marginalized groups. At a time when tax policy is once again at the forefront of politics and public discourse, the work of these and other critical tax scholars supports a more robust discussion of the role for tax law in current and future social and economic policy.

Friday

• Yariv Brauner (Florida), Tax Treaty Negotiation
• Kim Brooks (Dalhousie), A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Comparative Tax Scholarship
• David Elkins (Netanya), The Right and the Good: The Rhetoric of International Taxation
• Jonathan Choi (NYU), An Empirical Study of Statutory Interpretation in Tax Law, 95 N.Y.U. L. Rev. ___ (2020)
• Tessa Davis (South Carolina), Taxing the Cyborg
• Victoria Haneman (Creighton), Green Burial, Funeral Poverty, and Tax Incentives
• Darryll Jones (Florida A&M), Subsidizing Hate? Does the Constitution Require Tax Exempt Status for the Alt-Right?
• Henry Ordower (St. Louis), Capital, an Elusive Tax Object and Impediment to Sustainable Taxation
• Orli Oren-Kolbinger (Villanova), The Error Cost of Marriage
• Leandra Lederman (Indiana), The Fraud Triangle and Tax Evasion
• Fernando Loayza (LL.M. 2020, Yale), A Peruvian Tax Lawyer in a US Corporate Tax Class: What Can Be Explained and What Cannot Be Explained
• Kerry Ryan (St. Louis), Employment Taxation of Prison Labor
• Morenike Saula (George Washington), Why Nigeria Needs a FATCA
• Dan Shaviro (NYU), What Are Minimum Taxes, and Why Might One Favor or Disfavor Them?
• Phyllis Taite (Florida A&M), Making Tax Policy Great Again: America, You’ve Been Trumped
• Cristina Trenta (Örebro), Tax Measures in Support of the Circular Economy and Sustainable Development: The Experience of the Nordic Countries

Saturday

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Pepperdine Symposium: The Impact Of The 2017 Tax Act On Income And Wealth Inequality — Lessons For 2020 And Beyond

Due to the coronavirus, we had to cancel today's Pepperdine Law Review Symposium, The Impact of the 2017 Tax Act on Income and Wealth Inequality: Lessons For 2020 And Beyond. We are incredibly disappointed that we did not get to spend the day with these wonderful tax scholars and show off our beautiful law school, campus, and city. I feel especially bad for 3L Nicole Mitchell, the law review's symposium editor who conceived of the topic (after our Tax Policy class last Spring), selected and invited the speakers, and made all of the travel, hotel, and restaurant arrangements. However, we are delighted that many of the participants will be publishing their papers in the symposium issue of our law review.

Inequality Debate At Pepperdine: Arthur Laffer v. Emmanuel Saez

The Triumph of Injustice: Will a Wealth Tax Increase Prosperity and Opportunity in America?:

Join Pepperdine School of Public Policy and The Steamboat Institute for an evening debate over whether a wealth tax would enhance or diminish prosperity and opportunity in America, featuring Arthur B. Laffer, inventor of the Laffer Curve and member of President Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board, and Emmanuel Saez, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and advisor to US senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren. This debate will be moderated by Amber Athey, White House Correspondent for The Daily Caller and Tony Blankley Fellow with the Steamboat Institute.

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Fordham Symposium: The Future Of The New International Tax Regime

Symposium, The Future of the New International Tax Regime, 24 Fordham J. Corp. & Fin. L. 219-319 (2019):

• Rosanne Altshuler (Rutgers)
• Jeffrey Colon (Fordham)
• Fadi Shaheen (Rutgers)
• Steven Dean (NYU)
• Michael Graetz (Columbia)
• Rebecca Kysar (Fordham)
• Susan Morse (Texas)
• Daniel Shaviro (NYU)

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St. Louis Symposium On Law School Teaching Methods

Symposium on Law School Teaching Methods, 63 St. Louis U. L.J. 373-504 (2019):

• Nancy E. Miller (John Marshall-Atlanta), The Science of Successful Teaching: Incorporating Mind, Brain, and Education Research into the Legal Writing Course, 63 St. Louis U. L.J. 373 (2019)
• Pamela A. Wilkins (Detroit-Mercy), Law School in a Different Voice: Legal Education as a Work of Mercy, 63 St. Louis U. L.J. 401 (2019)

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Highlights Of ABA TechShow2020

Legal Education

• ABA Journal, Law School Tech Classes May Not Bring Job Opportunities, But They Do Help Teach Practice Skills
• ABA Journal, Want Law Profs to Embrace Technology? Show Them How It Improves Their Teaching
• ABA Journal, What Legal Tech Jobs Are Available For New Lawyers?

Legal Profession

• ABA Journal, Blind Recruiting, Ranking Job Candidates Could Help Address Extreme Lack of Diversity in Legal Profession

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UC-Irvine Hosts Symposium On Machine Intelligence And The Changing Nature Of Tax Law Practice

UC-Irvine hosts a two-day symposium on Machine Intelligence and the Changing Nature of Tax Law Practice. Tax Prof speakers include:

• Ted Afield (Georgia State)
• Benjamin Alarie (Toronto)
• Joshua Blank (UC-Irvine)
• Victor Fleischer (UC-Irvine)
• Stephanie Hoffer (Ohio State)
• Christine Kim (Utah)
• Sarah Lawsky (Northwestern)
• Omri Marian (UC-Irvine)
• Manoj Viswanathan (UC-Hastings)

Columbia Hosts Program Today On The Global Consequences Of The U.S. Tax Cuts And Jobs Act

Columbia Business Schools hosts a program today on The Global Consequences of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017:

With the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the US government had great goals of improving US competitiveness by lowering the corporate tax rate, enabling the movement of money back to the United States, and driving job growth in the country. More than two years after enactment, there are a number of important questions to consider. Has corporate behavior changed as a result of the legislation? More broadly, how are businesses in the United States and abroad reacting to the changes? What is happening to tax policies around the world? And how might this change in the future, given the resulting deficits, rising US debt levels, and the impending US election?

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UC-Hastings Hosts Symposium Today On Revolution or Evolution: Administrative Law In The Age of Trump

Hastings Law Journal Symposium: Revolution or Evolution: Administrative Law in the Age of Trump:

This year, we will consider how the Trump administration has pushed the boundaries of regulatory policy and upended longstanding policy assumptions in a variety of different domains. Specifically, the symposium will consider the Trump administration’s use of administrative procedures to advance policy goals, the judicial response to Trump administration policies, and whether any administrative law doctrines and theories should be reconsidered. At the symposium, we plan on having panels dedicated to discussing how the Trump administration’s use of administrative law has impacted environmental law, immigration law, and tax policy.

Tax Law Panel:

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ATPI & TPC Host Conference On Taxes And The Future Of Philanthropy

The American Tax Policy Institute and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center hosted a conference yesterday on Taxes and the Future of Philanthropy:

The philanthropic sector currently faces a difficult challenge: Recent changes to the tax law leave only about 10 percent of households, mainly with higher incomes, with incentive to donate to charity. This increasingly dominant influence of wealthy donors has drawn criticism, and leaders of the philanthropic sector have expressed concern about diminishing public trust in the sector’s efforts. In addition, a lack of resources limits regulators’ abilities to police this influence, thus bad actors threaten the sector’s reputation.

All this occurs against a backdrop of vexing societal challenges—climate change, rising inequality, loss of faith in government—that call for the philanthropic sector’s involvement. To address these issues, the sector is creating new philanthropic vehicles and approaches and considering legal and structural changes.

On Tuesday, February 18, a conference jointly organized by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the American Tax Policy Institute, featuring panels of experts and a keynote address by Chronicle of Philanthropy editor Stacy Palmer, deepen the discussion by addressing the following:

• Has charitable giving become the province of the rich, and, if so, what are the consequences?
• What policies would more efficiently and fairly encourage charitable giving?
• Can the Internal Revenue Service regulate the philanthropic sector, and should reform account for the Internal Revenue Service’s capacity?
• How has the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 affected charities?
• How will generational change affect philanthropy?

Welcome and Introduction

• Ellen Aprill (Loyola-L.A.; American Tax Policy Institute)
• Mark Mazur (Tax Policy Center)

Panel #1:  Oversight of Nonprofits

• Karin Kunstler Goldman (Charities Bureau, Office of the New York Attorney General), State Regulation and Enforcement in the Charitable Sector 
• Nina Olson (Center for Taxpayer Rights), TAS Studies of IRS 1023-EZ Determinations
• Marcus Owens (Loeb & Loeb), Charity Oversight: An Alternative Approach 
• Art Taylor (BBB Wise Giving Alliance), Hacking Nonprofit Collaboration 
• Elizabeth Young (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), UBIT—Times, They Are a’changing…. 

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Call For Symposium Proposals: Columbia And California Law Reviews

Columbia Law Review Call for Symposium & Timeline:
We are currently accepting symposium proposals for an event in November 2020. Please send all proposals to symposium@columbialawreview.org. We will be making a determination in April 2020 regarding which, if any, proposals will be accepted for an event next fall. If your proposal is selected, there will be an accompanying issue of the Columbia Law Review dedicated to publication of the work generated by the symposium.

Proposal Requirements:
Proposals should include a detailed 2-3 page explanation of:

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ABA Tax Section Mid-Year Meeting

The ABA Tax Section Midyear Meeting concludes today in Boca Raton, Florida. The full program is here. The highlight of the program is:

Teaching Taxation: Opportunity Zones – Two Years In
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in December 2017 included a new provision intended to direct investment into low-income communities through a combination of tax benefits for investors (deferral, partial reductions in gains, and exclusions of future appreciation). Though the enactment of such targeted tax incentives is not entirely new, the design of this provision has raised significant questions for investing taxpayers seeking to secure the tax benefits and for public policy advocates assessing whether the Opportunity Zone provisions achieve their stated goals. To explore all of these issues, this panel will discuss the design of the new incentive, who is making the investments, where, in what projects, how much is being invested, who is securing the benefits, and what will be the likely community impact. The panel also considers the current data reporting requirements and what/whether data should be made public to facilitate assessment of the program’s success in promoting economic growth in low-income areas.

• Edward De Barbieri (Albany)
• Michelle Layser (Illinois)
• Ellen Aprill (Loyola-L.A.) (moderator)

Other Tax Profs with speaking roles include:

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Hamilton Project Hosts Conference Today On Tackling The Tax Code: Efficient And Equitable Ways To Raise Revenue

The Hamilton Project hosts a conference today on Tackling the Tax Code: Efficient and Equitable Ways to Raise Revenue at the Brookings Institution (webcast here):

The United States needs additional revenue sources for investments that support broadly shared growth, for fiscal balance, and for a more equitable tax code. As policymakers address these challenges, important questions about taxes arise—who pays them, what effects do they have on the economy, and how much revenue can they raise? Therefore, it is necessary to examine how our nation’s tax code can most effectively provide for a strong government that promotes not only growth, but also widespread economic well-being and reduced inequality.

Panel #1:  Efficient and Equitable Ways to Raise Revenue

• Timothy  Geithner (President, Warburg Pincus)
• Penny Pritzker (Founder and Chair, PSP Partners) (moderator)
• Robert Rubin (Former U.S. Treasury Secretary)
• Lawrence Summers (Harvard)

Panel #2:  From a Financial Transactions Tax to a VAX

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International Tax Symposium In Honor Of Tim Edgar

Symposium, Re-Imagining Tax for the 21st Century: Inspired by the Scholarship of Tim Edgar (York University, Osgoode Hall Law School):

• Brian J. Arnold (Canadian Tax Foundation), The Relationship Between Restrictions on the Deduction of Interest Under Canadian Law and Canadian Tax Treaties, 67 Canadian Tax J. 1051 (2019)
• Michael Kobetsky (University of Melbourne), The Transfer-Pricing Profit-Split Method After BEPS: Back to the Future, 67 Canadian Tax J. 1077 (2019)
• Jinyan Li, Jin Bao & Huaning (Christina) Li (York University), Value Creation: A Constant Principle in a Changing World of International Taxation, 67 Canadian Tax J. 1107 (2019)
• Wei Cui (University of British Columbia), The Digital Services Tax on the Verge of Implementation, 67 Canadian Tax J. 1135 (2019)
• Allison Christians & Tarcisio Diniz Magalhaes (McGill University), A New Global Tax Deal for the Digital Age, 67 Canadian Tax J. 1153 (2019)

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Should The Tax System Be Used To Reduce Wealth Inequality In The United States?

Tax Policy Center, Should the Tax System Be Used to Reduce Wealth Inequality in the United States?:

Wealth is highly concentrated in the United States, with the top 0.1 percent of households holding an estimated 10 to 20 percent of all assets. Concerns about the effects of wealth inequality have spurred some presidential hopefuls to propose new taxes on wealth and unrealized capital gains and increases to the existing estate tax.

This policy debate raises broader issues about wealth inequality and how the tax code could reduce it. The causes, impacts on different groups, and effects of substantial wealth inequality are complex. Would higher taxes on the wealthy help fix the problems caused by wealth inequality?

Jason Furman, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, and panels of experts will consider the following questions:

• What has been the impact of wealth inequality on different groups in the United States?
• How does wealth concentration affect politics and public policy?
• Would reducing after-tax wealth affect the political power of the wealthy and social and economic divisions across groups?
• What are the pros and cons of using the tax system, instead of other government interventions, to reduce wealth inequality?

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Conference Announcement And Call For Contributions: Taxation And Gender Equality

Announcement of Conference and Call for Contributions:
Taxation and Gender Equality Conference: Research Roundtable and Policy Program

As the Organizers and members of the Academic Advisory Committee we are pleased to issue this Announcement and Call for Contributions to an event that will be held on September 14 and 15, 2020, in Washington, DC, to explore the interaction between tax law and gender equality. The goal of the Conference, which is sponsored by the Tax Policy Center, the American Tax Policy Institute, the American Bar Foundation, and, subject to the final approval of their boards, the Tax Section of the American Bar Association and the American College of Tax Counsel, is to shine a spotlight on gender issues in taxation and to bring consideration of gender impacts into mainstream discussions surrounding the enactment and administration of tax laws. The intended scope of the Conference is broad, focusing not only on gender issues in U.S. tax law but also on gender issues in the tax laws of other countries; it will consider all taxes, whether income, consumption, transfer, wealth, or other national-level taxes, as well as subnational taxes.

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Tax Programs Today At AALS

En/Countering Race, Racism, and Racial Distinctions in Tax Law (10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.)
The United States today is far from the post-racial world that was thought theoretically possible with the election of Barack Obama in 2008. This panel is designed to continue a dialogue exploring the system of privilege enmeshed in the economy of the United States that creates obstacles and challenges for ethnic and racial minorities. Panelists will consider the ways in which tax laws that appear neutral are not in fact neutral in impact—often serving to exacerbate preexisting inequalities. Panelists step beyond traditional legal analysis to challenge conventional wisdom, exploring the way in which the Internal Revenue Code subordinates some while privileging others and illustrating how tax subsidies cut sharply along racial lines. Proposed tax policy reforms will also be discussed.

• Dorothy Brown (Emory)
• Victoria Haneman (Creighton) (moderator)
• Francine Lipman (UNLV)
• Nicholas Mirkay (Hawaii)

Charitable Giving and the 1969 Tax Act: 50 Years Later (10:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.)
Noted scholars of philanthropy will consider the impact of the 1969 Tax Reform Act on charitable institutions and donor incentives.

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Tax Programs Today At AALS

Administering the 2017 Tax Act: Successes, Challenges & Opportunities  (8:30-10:15 a.m.)
In late 2017, Congress passed a major piece of tax legislation. Since then, the Treasury Department and IRS worked to implement this legislation, and in 2019, individual taxpayers went through the first filing season under the new law. This program will draw on these experiences and discuss issues related to the new law’s implementation and administration. The panel will include people who played key roles in the IRS’s Tax Reform Implementation Office, IRS Office of Chief Counsel, OIRA, and Taxpayer Advocate Service. Topics discussed will include the roles of different government players; process for promulgating regulations; decisions along the way, including about prioritization of topics for guidance; questions that remain unresolved; how the administration of the new law impacted taxpayers; obstacles faced during the first filing season; opportunities for improving the new law’s administration; and what to expect moving forward. There will be a business meeting at program conclusion.

• Kristin Hickman (Minnesota)
• Philip Lindenmuth (IRS Office of Chief Counsel)
• Sunita Lough (IRS)
• Nina Olson (National Taxpayer Advocate (retired))

New Voices in Tax Law & Policy (1:30-3:15 p.m.)

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Call for Papers: Michigan Junior Scholars’ Conference

Michigan Law School has issued a Call for Papers for its 6th Annual Junior Scholars' Conference:

The University of Michigan Law School invites junior scholars to attend the 6th Annual Junior Scholars Conference, which will be held on April 17-18, 2020, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The conference provides junior scholars with a platform to present and discuss their work with peers, and to receive detailed feedback from senior members of the Michigan Law faculty. The Conference aims to promote fruitful collaboration between participants and to encourage their integration into a community of legal scholars. The Junior Scholars Conference is intended for academics in both law and related disciplines. Applications from graduate students, SJD/PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, lecturers, teaching fellows, and assistant professors (pre-tenure) who have not held an academic position for more than four years, are welcomed.

Applications are due by January 3, 2020.

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NTA 112th Annual Conference On Taxation

Highlights of the concluding day of the National Tax Association 112th Annual Conference on Taxation in Tampa (full program here):

Digital Services Taxation
Chair: Stephen Shay (Harvard)

• Christine Kim (Utah), Digital Services Tax: A Cross-Border Variation of Consumption Tax Debate
• Daniel Shaviro (NYU), Digital Services Taxes and the New Direction in Source-Based Taxation
• John Vella (Oxford), Digital Services Taxes: Principle As a Double-Edged Sword
• Discussants: Tom Neubig (Tax Sage Network), Susan Morse (Texas), Stephen Shay (Harvard), 

Directions for Tax Policy
Chair: Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.)

• Jacob Nussim (Bar Ilan), Loss Offset and Income Averaging
• Katherine Pratt (Loyola-L.A.), Making Tax Expenditures Work
• Jay Soled (Rutgers), Gift and Estate Taxes and the Case for Deunification
• Sloan Speck (Colorado), The Taxation of Crowdfunding for Medical Care
• Discussants: Sloan Speck (Colorado), Eleanor Wilking (NYU)

Legal Issues In Tax
Chair: Doron Narotzki (Akron)

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NTA 112th Annual Conference On Taxation

Highlights of today's National Tax Association 112th Annual Conference on Taxation in Tampa (full program here):

Keynote: The Triumph of Injustice: Lessons for Distributional Tax Analysis
Emmanuel Saez (UC-Berkeley)

Plenary in Honor of Louis Kaplow (Harvard), 2019 Holland Award Recipient
Chair: Alvin Warren (Harvard)

• Alan Auerbach (UC-Berkeley)
• James Hines (Michigan)
• Stefanie Stantcheva (Harvard)
• David Weisbach (Chicago)

Empirical Studies of Wealth Taxes
Chair: Emmanuel Saez (UC-Berkeley)

• Mariona Mas Montserrat (Barcelona), Jose Maria Durán-Cabré (Barcelona), & Alejandro Esteller-Moré (Barcelona), Behavioral Responses to the (Re)Introduction of Wealth Taxes: Evidence from Spain
• Juliana Londono-Velez (UC-Berkeley) & Javier Avila-Mahecha (DIAN), Can Wealth Taxation Work in Developing Countries? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Colombia
• Marius Brülhart (Lausanne), Jonathan Gruber (MIT), Matthias Krapf (Lausanne), & Kurt Schmidheiny (Basel), Behavioral Responses to Wealth Taxes: Evidence from Switzerland
• Floris Zoutman (Norwegian School of Economics), The Elasticity of Taxable Wealth: Evidence from the Netherlands
• Discussants: Ulrich Glogowsky (Munich), Emmanuel Saez (UC-Berkeley)

Alternatives to Wealth Taxation

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NTA 112th Annual Conference On Taxation

Highlights of the opening day of the National Tax Association 112th Annual Conference on Taxation in Tampa (full program here):

Keynote: Tax Follies and Wisdom through the Ages
Joel Slemrod (Michigan)

Plenary: Capital and Wealth Taxation

• Jason Furman (Harvard)
• Beth Kaufman (Caplin & Drysdale)
• Henrik J. Kleven (Princeton)
• Wojciech Kopczuk (Columbia)

Law and Economics
Chair: Andrea Lopez-Luzuriaga (George Washington)

• Leigh Osofsky (North Carolina), Agency Legislative Fixes
• Sutirtha Bagchi (Villanova) & Matthew Fagerstrom (Villanova), Wealth Inequality and Democracy
• Clinton G. Wallace (South Carolina), Democracy-Enhancing Tax Policy
• Dylan T. Moore (Michigan), Optimal Political Finance Regulation
• Discussants: Joshua Blank (UC-Irvine), John R. Brooks (Georgetown)

New Principles for Optimal Taxation
Chair: Theodore Seto (Loyola-L.A.)

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Call For Papers: Indiana Symposium On Social Equality in the Sharing Economy

Call for Participation: 2020 Social Equality in the Sharing Economy Symposium:

The “sharing economy,” also known as the “gig” or “on-demand” economy, is transforming the way people work, eat, commute, and travel by seamlessly connecting suppliers and consumers via app-based technology platforms.  It provides flexible income earning opportunities for one side and convenience and low prices for the other. However, it also creates a dizzying array of policy problems for communities of all sizes—from tax evasion and pollution to price discrimination, worker precarity, and violent protests.  The Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality (IJLSE), in collaboration with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and the Ostrom Workshop, is hosting a symposium on February 13th and 14th at the Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana to offer and debate solutions to these complex and fast-moving set of challenges.

Designed to stimulate interdisciplinary research and collaboration, as well as to amplify existing research, the Social Equality in the “Sharing Economy?” Symposium will consist of a series of keynotes, panel discussions, and paper presentations from a range of voices.

We invite original paper submissions from all relevant disciplines for the Symposium.

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ABA And UNLV Host Webinar Today On Economic, Gender And Racial Inequality In State & Local Tax Systems

The ABA and UNLV Law School host a webinar today (12:30 pm PST) on Economic, Gender and Racial Inequality in State and Local Tax Systems:

• Bridget Crawford (Pace)
• Lisa Christensen Gee (Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy)
• Francine Lipman (UNLV) (moderator)
• Kirk Stark (UCLA)

Over the past four decades, wealth has increasingly concentrated among the highest-income households. These households are disproportionately White and male. In 2018, three White men held aggregate wealth greater than the aggregate wealth of one-half of Americans. The median White household has 41 times more wealth than the median Black household and 22 times more wealth than the median Latinx household. On average women earn less than men in all industries. The largest pay gaps are in management, in which men earned $88,000 on average in 2016, compared to $55,000 for women. At the intersection of race and gender the gaps are even more shocking. Women of color are disproportionately poor suffering poverty rates of 21.4% Black women, 18.7% Latinas, and 22.8% Native American women, as compared to 7% for White men The United States exhibits wider disparities of wealth than any other major developed nation.

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Pittsburgh Symposium: The 1969 Tax Reform Act And Charities — Fifty Years Later

The Pittsburgh Tax Review hosted a symposium last Friday on The 1969 Tax Reform Act and Charities: Fifty Years Later (video):

Panel #1: Investing for Charity 

• Ray Madoff (Boston College), The Five Percent Fig Leaf
• Dana Brakman Reiser (Brooklyn), Foundation Regulation in Our Age of Impact
• Commenter:  Carolyn Duronio (Reed Smith, Pittsburgh)

Panel #2: Origins of Private Foundation Rules and their Meaning for Today 

• Jim Fishman (Pace), Does the Origin of the 1969 Private Foundation Rules Suggest a Match for Current Regulatory Needs?
• Khrista McCarden (Tulane), Private Operating Foundation Reform & J. Paul Getty
• Commenter:  Penina Lieber (Dinsmore & Shohl, Pittsburgh)

Panel #3: Regulating Charitable Actors  

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Villanova Hosts Symposium Today On Gender Equity In Law Schools

Villanova hosts the Annual Law Review Norman J. Shachoy Symposium today on Gender Equity in Law Schools:

Despite the significant demographic change in the gender composition of law faculty during the last 25 years, persistent questions of unequal treatment and unconscious bias continue to hamper the ability of female faculty to achieve full equality in law schools.

The symposium will examine a broad variety of issues relating to gender equity in law schools, such as:

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Call For Tax Papers: Fordham Journal Of Corporate & Financial Law

The Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law is now accepting tax article submissions for its Spring of 2020 issue!  As one of the premier student-edited business law journals in the country, the Journal ranks as the single most-cited specialty journal in banking and finance, and among the top-ten specialty journals in corporations and associations. Academic journals, the financial press, and the U.S. Supreme Court have cited the Journal.

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AEI Hosts Panel Discussions Today On The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act

The American Enterprise Institute hosts a panel discussion today on Trump’s Tax Reform Happened: Now What? A Panel Discussion on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (live stream at 2:00 - 4:00 pm EST here):

At the end of 2017, the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) brought the most sweeping overhaul of the US tax code in decades. At the time, projected effects and opinions were diverse and relatively uncertain, even among leading thinkers in the field. Now more than a year and half since its enactment, we are asking top tax experts from across the ideological spectrum to answer a variety of questions about this major tax overhaul — such as the impact on households, the corporate rate, the impact on inequality, deficit effects, long-term growth, and more.

• Alex Brill (AEI), Pro-family Tax Policy: The Case of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• Leonard E. Burman (Syracuse), The Pro-Growth Argument for Progressive Tax Reform That Was Missing from TCJA
• Kimberly Clausing (Reed College), The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Was Never About Workers
• Dhammika Dharmapala (Chicago), The Consequences of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s International Provisions: The Early Empirical Evidence
• Jason Furman (Harvard Kennedy School), 'Not Much’: What Macroeconomic Data Say About the Impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• William G. Gale (Brookings Institution), A Fixable Mistake: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• Mindy Herzfeld (Florida), The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Lessons For the Future
• R. Glenn Hubbard (Columbia), The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and Investment: Progress, Not Perfection

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UCLA Hosts 35th Annual Tax Controversy Conference

UCLA hosts its 35th Annual Tax Controversy Conference today in Beverly Hills.:

The Annual Tax Controversy Conference is the preeminent conference exclusively dedicated to tax controversy and tax litigation. The conference provides an open forum for distinguished presenters and panelists to discuss, and often debate, sensitive tax practice issues with an engaged audience. ...

We are privileged to have as our keynote luncheon speaker Charles P. Rettig, the 49th Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Chuck just recently completed his first year in the job and by all accounts had received very high marks. Tax administration is in very good hands.

This year we are again honored to have as our opening keynote speaker, Eric Hylton, recently appointed Commissioner of SBSE and former Deputy Chief, Criminal Investigation Division. Eric hit it out of the park last year and set the tone for a lively and informative conference.

Michael Desmond, the newly appointed Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service will be giving our afternoon keynote.

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Call For Papers And Commentators: 23rd Annual Critical Tax Conference At Florida

[W]e at the University of Florida are pleased that we will be the hosts of the 2020 version of the Critical Tax Conference. To give you all maximum time to make plans and to consider the special publication possibility that I'll describe momentarily, we are sending this official Call for Papers a bit earlier than usual.

The conference will begin early on Saturday, April 4 and conclude on Sunday the 5th, with the usual mixture of paper panels and incubator sessions — and, of course, the meals and get-togethers that we've all come to expect and enjoy.

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Call For Tax Papers And Panels: SEALS 2019 (Oct. 23 Deadline)

While it is a little hard to believe, it is already time to start thinking about next summer.  The Call for Papers for SEALS 2020 has been open for awhile, but somehow I missed the original call, so we are now running late.  The 2020 conference will be held July 30-August 5, 2020 at the Marriott Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

The conference submission tool is now open, and I am eager to coordinate people who are interested in presenting tax work at the SEALS conference into relevant panel groups.  In addition, we have also had very successful Tax Policy Discussion Groups in recent years.  Panels are generally composed of 4 to 5 people speaking for 15 to 20 minutes each.  I will attempt to group papers so that panels include papers on similar topics.  The Discussion Group includes about 10 people, each speaking for 5-8 minutes on a topic related to tax policy, broadly interpreted.  This has often included topics that are not necessarily fully formed paper ideas, but are thoughts the presenter has had on something he or she would like to discuss with a group of smart, informed people in an informal setting.  Both types of presentation have been very successful in the past.  Each presenter may participate in one Panel AND one Discussion Group.

So, if you are interested in submitting to SEALS and would like me to include you in a group of other tax profs, please email me at jbirdpollan@uky.edu with the following information:

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Call For Proposals: Inequality Of Wealth, Race, And Class, Equality Of Opportunity

The University of St. Thomas (MN) Journal of Law and Public Policy is hosting a symposium on March 27, 2020, entitled “Inequality of Wealth, Race, and Class, Equality of Opportunity.” Topics include “Student Loans;” “Social Mobility;” “Housing;” and “The Public Good.”

Please submit proposals of 250 to 500 words to Professor Charles J. Reid, Jr, by November 15, 2019. We shall notify those who have submitted successful proposals shortly after that date. Successful submissions can expect a modest honorarium. Successful submissions will be published in our Journal of Law and Public Policy. The deadline for final drafts is July, 2020.

For those who wish to present in person on March 27, in addition to the honorarium, we shall cover travel costs, food and lodging.

UC-Davis/ACTEC Symposium: An Empirical Analysis Of Wealth Transfer Law

The UC Davis Law Review hosted its 53rd annual symposium on Friday on An Empirical Analysis of Wealth Transfer Law,  co-sponsored by the ACTEC Foundation (call for papers here): 

Panel #1: Marriage

• David Horton (UC-Davis) (moderator)
• Naomi Cahn (George Washington), What's Wrong about the Elective Share Right
  Commentator: Shayak Sarkar (UC-Davis)
• Alyssa DiRusso (Samford), Using Empirical Data on the Widowhood Effect to Optimize Simultaneous Health Law and Drafting
  Commentator: Andrea Chandrasekher (UC-Davis)
• Russell James (Texas Tech), Empirical Analysis of Charitable Bequest Transfers: A Comprehensive Review, New Findings, and the Emerging Potential of Longitudinal Data
• Jeffrey Pennell (Emory), Individuated Determination of a Surviving Spouse's Elective Share

Panel #2: Research Using Probate Records

• Adam Hirsch (San Diego) (moderator)
• Bridget Crawford (Pace), What Probate Courts Cite: A Study of the New York County Surrogate's Court 2017-2018
  Commentator: Donna Shestowsky (UC-Davis)
• David Horton (UC-Davis), Do-It-Yourself-Wills
  Commentator: Alexander Boni-Saenz (Chicago-Kent)
• Alberto Lopez (Alabama), Antebellum and Postbellum Testamentary Transfers in Three Kentucky Counties
• Reid Kress Weisbord (Rutgers), Fiduciary Authority and Liability in Probate Estates: An Empirical Analysis
  Commentator: Jane Baron (Temple)

Panel #3: Nonprobate Transfers, Estate Planning, and Intestacy

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Call For Tax Papers And Panels: Law & Society Annual Meeting On Rule And Resistance

Neil Buchanan (Florida) has issued his annual call for tax papers and panels for next year's annual meeting of the Law & Society Association in Denver (May 28 - 31, 2020):

For the sixteenth year in a row, I will organize sessions for the Law, Society, and Taxation group (Collaborative Research Network 31).  For the fourth year in a row, I am pleased to be joined (or, more accurately, carried) in these organizational efforts by Professors Jennifer Bird-Pollan and Mirit Eyal-Cohen.

Although there is an official call for papers, please remember that you are not bound by the official theme of the conference ("Rule and Resistance"). We will give full consideration to proposals in any area of tax law, tax policy, distributive justice, interdisciplinary scholarship, and so on.

The deadline for submissions is before midnight (Eastern Time) Wednesday, November 13, 2019.

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